A visitor tries out smartphones at the Xiaomi stand at the 2018 China Mobile Global Partner Conference in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, December 6, 2018. Photo: IC

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp posted its slowest revenue growth as a public company, missing analysts' estimates. This came as it lost its market share to Huawei and customers held on to their current phones before a 5G overhaul.

Xiaomi's stock, which has nearly halved from its IPO price, was down 6 percent during afternoon trading on Wednesday.

China's smartphone market, the world's largest, is shrinking but consumers there are rallying in support of Huawei as it battles its US trade restrictions.

Xiaomi's market share in China declined by a fifth in the April to June quarter, even as Huawei's share surged by 31 percent, according to research firm Canalys. Globally, the smartphone market shrank 2.3 percent in the same period, according to research firm IDC.

Xiaomi, which debuted its shares in July last year, said on Tuesday that it failed to increase smartphone shipments, which stood at 32 million, in the second quarter.

"Customers are generally holding existing smartphones for longer, with manufacturers hoping that 5G will provide compelling reasons for customers to upgrade their phones," Morningstar analyst Dan Baker said in a research note.

The company's second-quarter revenue rose 15 percent to 51.95 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) from 45.24 billion yuan a year earlier, but fell short of the 53.52 billion yuan expected by analysts, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Net income slumped 87 percent to 1.96 billion yuan as the fair value of investments switched to a loss in the second quarter, from a gain a year earlier.

Diversification

Still, Xiaomi's adjusted profit of 3.64 billion yuan beat the 2.74 billion yuan expected by analysts.

While Xiaomi makes most of its money by selling mobile handsets, like other Chinese tech companies it is seeking new sources of revenue.

The company is investing in artificial intelligence and smart-home devices. Revenue in the Internet of Things and the lifestyle products business jumped 44 percent, accounting for more than a quarter of the total.

The firm has invested in several companies manufacturing semiconductors or other key hardware components, in an attempt to emulate the success of Huawei's HiSilicon semiconductor division.

In the second quarter, Xiaomi funded Verisilicon, a Shanghai-based chip design firm. It also invested in Bestechnic, which designs chips for audio devices.

Three of the companies Xiaomi invested in were listed on China's newly-opened STAR market, and helped it generate asset-divestment gains of 551.8 million yuan.

Xiaomi's chief financial officer, Chew Shou Zi, said the investments stemmed in part from the company's hopes to build a "Chinese supply chain," while improving its internal research and development abilities.