Apple is (momentarily) no longer the second-biggest smartphone maker

When you’re a smartphone user in the West, it’s easy to fall into the trap where the market starts looking like Samsung vs Apple, and everything else is a distraction at best. Of course, the actual landscape is far more varied and interesting than just that, and even with lots of upheaval as manufacturers come and go, there are still plenty of other major brands selling phones — and in some cases, a lot of phones.

Xiaomi is one of those players where you’ve probably heard its name quite a bit, but may not have a great sense for just how big it is on the international smartphone market. To simply acknowledge its bigness risks understatement, but now we have one very clear way to put it: Last month, Xiaomi sold more smartphones than Apple.

That’s according to the latest analysis from Counterpoint Research, and while that’s a major mark to hit, it’s not one without precedent: Xiaomi similarly eked past Apple back around this time in 2021. Although Xiaomi’s been having a solid 2024, displaying growth month after month, the circumstances of it crossing this threshold are honestly less about Xiaomi and more about Apple, and how the company’s sales always cool off in the time immediately preceding the launch of its latest iPhones.

Still, credit goes to Xiaomi for having the sales to slide past a giant like Apple, even if just momentarily. Counterpoint’s analysis credits some restructuring of the brand’s phone lineup to focus on fewer devices in each segment, and a growing focus on the premium space. That tends to track with our interest in the company, as well, with recent excitement centered on devices like the Xiaomi 15 Ultra and its rumored camera hardware, a next-gen concept with no physical buttons, or the Mix Flip foldable.

Of course, the iPhone 16 series is here now, and while we don’t have sales estimates covering these past few weeks just yet, it doesn’t take a particularly talented imagination to suspect that Apple’s fortunes have already turned around — and are likely well on their way to once again passing even Samsung. Still, good on you, Xiaomi!