Xiaomi ships 100 million smartphones faster than expected

China's second biggest smartphone maker is now the biggest in India

Xiaomi

Xinmei Shen

Published: 9:00pm, 29 Oct, 2018

Why you can trust SCMP

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Xiaomi passed their own target to ship 100 million smartphones in 2018 -- boasting that they reached it two months before the end of the year.

How Xiaomi forged a unique path

CEO Lei Jun said on Weibo on Saturday that at 11:23pm on Friday night, the company completed their target for 2018 by reaching 100 million handsets shipped.

Of course, that’s shipped, not sold -- we don’t know how many of those actually ended up with consumers. And it’s way behind some of its competitors. China’s biggest smartphone vendor, Huawei, hit 100 million handsets shipped in July. It’s targeting shipments of 200 million handsets this year.

But Xiaomi’s achievement is still notable, because it represents 43% growth from the first ten months of 2017. And comes amid an increasing focus on overseas markets: They’ve nabbed 27% market share in India in the third quarter of 2018, making them the biggest smartphone maker in the country.

But some users on social media in China jumped on the opportunity to take jabs at Xiaomi’s latest flagship, the Mi MIX 3. Unveiled last week, it received mixed impressions from Xiaomi fans, with many disappointed that the Mi MIX 3 still has a fingerprint sensor on the back. And, notably for a phone that pushes the boundaries of design for Xiaomi, some think it lacks surprises.

One popular commend under Lei Jun’s announcement asks, “Is it because you hit the target that you didn't care about the Mi MIX 3?”

Hands-on with the sliding Xiaomi Mi MIX 3

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.

Post