from DION HENRICK in Cape Town
Western Cape Bureau
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – THE Chinese smartphone vendors – Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi- have emerged the biggest competition to the two largest players in the market, iPhone and Samsung.
A decade ago, they were minor names in the smartphone industry but now make up one-third of global sales.
Their sales have skyrocketed thanks to their aggressive pricing offering them high-specification phones at lower prices as well as tensions between Western countries and China fueling their sales in the domestic market, one of the largest smartphone markets globally.
According to data presented by Stocklytics.com, the three smartphone vendors have collectively shipped more than 2,6 billion devices in a decade.
According to Statista and IDC data, Xiaomi shipped around 47 million smartphones in 2024. Figures for Oppo and Vivo could not be ascertained.
However, when all three vendors revealed their sales figures a year later, the annual shipments hit over 135 million.
Three years later, that 135 million turned into 255 million, and by the end of 2022, the yearly shipments increased by a further 23 percent and hit 316 million.
Statistics show that 2021 remains the record year for Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo sales, with their combined shipments skyrocketing to almost 453 million.
Although this figure significantly dropped in 2022 and 2023, triggered by the plunging sales in the broader market, the three vendors still sold 270 million of their devices, 460 percent more than ten years ago.
According to shipment figures for the first half of the year, 2024 could become one of the best years for their smartphone sales, with the combined shipments reaching 180 million in the first half, or 21 million more than in the same period last year.
Statistics show Xiaomi saw the biggest shipment growth. During the six months of the year, the Chinese biggest smartphone manufacturer sold 83,1 million devices, or 30 percent more than the same period of 2023.
Vivo shipments increased by 10 percent, from 42,5 million to 46,7 million.
– CAJ News