The latest research by Strategy Analytics shows that two China-based first-tier smartphone makers are rapidly growing the in the British smartphone market. It turns out Xiaomi and OPPO use O2, Vodafone, EE/BT and Three operators to offer their products to larger masses. These two companies are expected to gain a high-digit shipment share in Q1 of 2021.
Woody OH, Director of Strategy Analytics, said: ‘Xiaomi and OPPO are cementing their smartphone market share in UK, being no.3 and no.4 OEM ahead of Huawei. The two Chinese vendors are prioritizing shipping their 4G and 5G-capable smartphones directly to operators in the UK. Operators are ramping up 5G service coverage across the country. And they are prioritizing the sourcing of price-competitive 5G smartphones while Huawei is out of the game.’
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In fact, this is a common practice in Europe and US to sell smartphones via carriers. And these two Chinese smartphone makers decided to use this approach for capturing more market share rather than following the way of selling unlocked smartphones via online and offline stores.
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, noted: ‘The UK smartphone market was dominated by Apple, Samsung and Huawei until 2019. However, Xiaomi and Oppo have been very quick to seize on the opportunity presented by Huawei’s geopolitical problems. UK operators need a mix of innovative OEMs to provide affordable high quality 4G/5G devices to support the transition to the next generation 5G technology.’
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Rajeev Nair, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, said, ‘Xiaomi and OPPO achieved mid-single-digit share at each operator that they are working with in Q4 2020. We expect their share to get up to high-single-digits in Q1 and Q2 2021.’
Chinese Smartphone Vendors In Other Big Markets, India
Previously, Chinese suppliers such as Xiaomi, OPPO and VIVO accounted for 77% of India’s total smartphone shipments in 2020, compared with 72% in 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2020, Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments in India reached 12 million units. At the same time, its market share was 27%. Samsung was the second with a market share of 21%. VIVO still ranks third with shipments of 7.7 million units. OPPO rose to fourth place with 5.5 million shipments. Realme fifth.
