Xiaomi saw its European market share hit its highest ever point in the third quarter of this year, according to analyst firm IDC.
The firm also found that smartphone shipments in the wider EMEA region bounced back from the Covid-influenced downturn seen earlier in the year to register year-on-year growth.
Meanwhile, Huawei saw the biggest sales decline among the region’s top five manufacturers, dropping from third to fifth for market share.
Overall smartphone shipments were 93.1 million, an annual increase of 2.1 per cent. IDC estimates these shipments to be worth $27.7 billion (£20.2 billion).
This compares favourably with the previous two quarters of 2020, which both saw year-on-year drops of around eight per cent.
Of these shipments, 53.2 million came from Europe, with smartphone ASP at $392, increasing by $17 quarter-on-quarter.
Xiaomi’s EMEA shipments for the quarter stood at 13.4 million, a 121.9 per cent increase on the 6.0 million it posted in Q3 2019. Its market share increased from 6.6 per cent to 14.4 per cent, putting it at second place for the region behind Samsung.
Samsung’s market share declined from 34.7 per cent to 31.8 per cent annually as its shipments fell 6.3 per cent to 29.6 million, but it remained comfortably ahead of the competition.
However, in Europe specifically, Samsung and Xiaomi both saw bigger gains, with Samsung’s market share rising above a third of the market to hit 37.1 per cent, while Xiaomi’s hit 18.1 per cent, its highest ever in the region.
IDC program director Simon Baker said that Samsung and Xiaomi’s performances came at the expense of Huawei, which saw 10.8 million shipments in the quarter, down from 17.4 million the year before. Its market share fell from 19.2 per cent to 11.7 per cent.
Baker said that with the embattled manufacturer’s decline, other brands such as Oppo, vivo, Realme and OnePlus will become more prominent.
Apple saw its shipments remain relatively flat despite the delayed release of the iPhone 12 to the current quarter. IDC EMEA research manager Marta Pinto said that 5G shipments would see a sharp increase this quarter due to iPhone 12 uptake.
