Analysts suggest that Xiaomi’s sale of over 1 million units of its latest flagship smartphone within a week of its release indicates a potential turnaround in the declining Chinese phone market. The smartphone market in the world’s largest market has been shrinking due to factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and a slow economic rebound, which have led customers to delay their phone upgrades.
Individuals are inspecting Xiaomi’s latest products in anticipation of the 2023 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain on February 26, 2023.
Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun announced on Weibo that the Mi 14 series has sold over 1 million units and is still facing significant shortages. These phones were released in China on October 31 and feature Qualcomm’s advanced Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor and Xiaomi’s HyperOS software.
Analyst Will Wong from IDC noted that this strong launch indicates positive signs of the market stabilizing.
Following Huawei’s strong sales performance with the Mate 60 series phones, it appears that the Chinese smartphone market is poised for year-on-year sales growth in the fourth quarter, as projected by IDC. This is a notable change after experiencing ten consecutive quarters of decline.
While the exact level of growth was not specified, Qualcomm, a U.S. chip designer, also reported robust demand from smartphone companies, particularly in China.
The Mi 14 series, which ranges in price from 3,999 yuan to 6,499 yuan (equivalent to $550 to $890), reflects Xiaomi’s endeavor to gain a stronger foothold in the premium smartphone market and vie with Apple and Huawei in this segment.
($1 = 7.2856 Chinese yuan)
Reporting by Yelin Mo and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edwina Gibbs
