CHINESE smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp. overtook Apple Inc. in the second quarter to become the world’s No. 2 smartphone maker, according to preliminary estimates by Canalys. This marks the first occasion that Xiaomi, the Hong Kong-listed maker of everything from rice cookers to gaming monitors, has broken into the top two, historically dominated by Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. Samsung had a 19 percent share in the second quarter, Xiaomi had 17 percent and Apple was at 14 percent, according to the research firm’s data. Huawei Technologies Co. had briefly disrupted the rankings, until U.S. sanctions cut it off from essential chip supplies last year. Shenzhen-based Huawei’s withdrawal from the highly competitive smartphone market pushed other Chinese vendors to spend aggressively on new hardware and upgrades. Xiaomi was particularly active, launching two flagship devices within the first four months of the year. Its Mi 11 Ultra device features one of the largest camera sensors in a smartphone to date, underscoring the firm’s ambition to push up into the premium pricing range. “Compared with Samsung and Apple, its average selling price is around 40 percent and 75 percent cheaper respectively,” said Canalys research manager Ben Stanton. “So a major priority for Xiaomi this year is to grow sales of its high-end devices, such as the Mi 11 Ultra. But it will be a tough battle, with Oppo and Vivo sharing the same objective, and both willing to spend big on above-the-line marketing to build their brands in a way that Xiaomi is not.” (SD-Agencies) | 