Over the past three months, more than 327 million new smartphones were shipped out from factories around the world, and young Chinese company Xiaomi has been responsible for more than 5 percent of them. That, according to IDC’s latest figures, is enough to place it in third spot behind established leaders Samsung and Apple, overshadowing global competitors like Lenovo and LG. Xiaomi’s rise has been remarkable both for how quick it has been and for the fact that the company still operates primarily in its home market of China.
Xiaomi is now the world’s third largest smartphone maker, due in large part to the success of its high-end Mi4, says new research by IDC. This is also the first time that Xiaomi has broken into the research firm’s list of the top 5 smartphone makers in the world. Samsung remains at the lead despite declining shipment volume, followed by Apple, Xiaomi, and Lenovo and LG, which tied for fourth place. A new report by Strategy Analytics also puts Xiaomi in the number three position. Its focus on China and adjacent markets like Southeast Asia helped boost Xiaomi into the top 5 by resulting in triple-digit year-over-year growth in Q3 2014. IDC said that the launch of Xiaomi’s flagship phone MI4, which is meant to compete against Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Apple’s iPhone, in August was key to its success. But while Xiaomi is doing well in China and other Asian countries, it’s still unclear how well it will fare in other markets where it faces greater competition from Samsung and Apple.