Xiaomi sold more more devices in China than Samsung in Q2

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has sold more devices in its home market during the second quarter than Samsung, the world's No 1 supplier of devices.

Samsung dominated the Chinese smartphone market for over two years, but according to data from IT and technology sector analyst Canalys, its reign had come to an end.

Samsung sold 13.2 million smartphones in China during the second quarter, down from 15.5 million in the year-ago period.

Samsung's sales fell even as the company launched its flagship smartphone Galaxy S5 for the year. The Korean phone maker went through a tough quarter, partly attributing its reduced profits to weak sales in China. Samsung's rivals made significant gains and had a profitable run taking on the company, in the April to June time frame.

The same period saw, Xiaomi's China sales rise over three-fold from 5 million to 15 million units. It easily surged past Samsung, while Lenovo, another China-based firm, stood at the third spot in the market with sales of about 11 million.

Xiaomi had arrived on the scene only in 2010, but it found a way to appeal to the masses in its home market more so than Samsung.

Dominic Sunnebo, strategic insight director at Kantar WorldPanel, had said earlier this year that the combination of high spec devices, low prices, and "an ability to create unprecedented buzz through online and social platforms" had proved an irresistible proposition in the smart phone Chinese market.

Earnings and shipments at Samsung are shrinking with consumers increasingly preferring local makers selling inexpensive phones. Xiaomi has been able to keep prices down by selling through its website and tapping social media to create Apple Inc-like buzz, while Micromax offered models with longer battery life and dual-SIM capacity in a market where wireless carriers did not subsidise phones.

Acording to Cho Woo Hyung, a Seoul-based analyst at Daewoo Securities Co, Xiaomi and other smaller players in India were catching up very fast (See: Micromax overtakes Samsung to emerge as India's largest mobile phone supplier).

He added, if one lost market share, it was hard to get it back, so Samsung would continue to churn out as many handsets as possible to retain its dominant share in the smartphone market.

Xiaomi emerged No1 in China by shipping 15 million devices in the second quarter, giving it a 14-per cent share of the market, according to researcher Canalys's statement on its website.

Samsung shipped 13.2 million smartphones, giving the Suwon, South Korea-based company 12 per cent of the market.

According to commentators, making it to the top of the world's biggest market capped a rapid ascent for Xiaomi and its founder, Lei Jun.

The Beijing-based company, established in 2010, was targeting 10 countries for expansion, including India, Brazil and Russia.