Xiaomi photo:VCG

 
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp reported second-quarter revenue growth of 64 percent on Wednesday, exceeding market expectations, with its overseas markets' revenue contributing half where growth posted strong momentum.

In the second quarter of 2021, Xiaomi's total revenue amounted to 87.8 billion yuan ($13.6 billion), higher than market estimates of 84 billion yuan, and its adjusted net profit for the period reached 6.3 billion yuan, surging by 87.4 percent on a yearly basis.

Revenue from overseas markets showed stellar performance in the quarter, rising 81.6 percent year-on-year to 43.6 billion yuan, a record high, which accounted for 49.7 percent of the vendor's total revenue.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi topped all vendors with 25 percent market share in Europe, surpassing Samsung in terms of smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2021, as its European smartphone shipments posted strong growth.

The report came on the heels of another market research report released in July by Canalys, showing that Xiaomi overtook Apple in the second quarter this year to become the world's No.2 smartphone maker for the first time with 17 percent share of worldwide smartphone shipments.

As the Chinese vendor expands in overseas markets, it is filling the void left by its rival Huawei, which has gradually retreated following US restrictions that crippled its ability to source key parts like high-end chipsets for its devices. Xiaomi has also seen a rise in shipments in the domestic market.

According to Canalys, Xiaomi's smartphone market share in the Chinese mainland rose to 16.8 percent in the second quarter from 10.3 percent in the same period last year, ranking third with a 35.1 percent year-on-year increase in shipments, the highest growth rate among major players in the market.

In the first half of this year, Xiaomi's shipments of smartphones with retail prices at or above 3,000 yuan in the Chinese mainland and 300 Euros ($352) or equivalent in overseas markets exceeded 12 million units, surpassing the total of around 10 million units shipped in 2020.

In a speech marking Xiaomi's 11th anniversary earlier this month, founder and CEO Lei Jun set a goal to become the world's No.1 mobile phone vendor in the next three years.

Apart from its core strategy driven by smartphones and AIoT, the combination of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies with the Internet of Things (IoT), Xiaomi announced the establishment of a new smart electric vehicle (EV) and autonomous driving technology division in March.

In a filing sent to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Thursday, Xiaomi said it had purchased domestic autonomous driving technology firm DeepMotion for $77.4 million.

Xiaomi President Wang Xiang said in a conference call after the release of the earnings results that autonomous driving is the most important technology for smart EVs, and DeepMotion has strong R&D capabilities and experience.

Wang did not say where Xiaomi will build its factory for making EVs or whom the company will partner with, two issues that have been much discussed in the market in recent months.

"For a long time, Xiaomi has been evaluating and investigating the location where Xiaomi's cars will be built. But this is a very complicated issue. We will report the final results in due course," Wang said. 

Global Times