“Xiaomi’s Vietnam factory has started operation.” According to the “Nihon Keizai Shimbun” report on July 5, Xiaomi has recently delivered the first batch of smartphones made in Vietnam, and entrusted the production to Hong Kong-based DBG Technology. The representative of Xiaomi Vietnam said that in addition to supplying the local market, the devices will also be exported to the Southeast Asian market. Xiaomi is Vietnam’s second-largest smartphone maker, with a 20.6 percent market share in the first three months of 2022, according to industry analyst firm Counterpoint.
Market research firm IDC previously predicted that in 2022 Vietnam will become the fastest-growing smartphone market in Southeast Asia. As of the first quarter of 2022, Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi , OPPO , vivo , and Realme accounted for about 50% of the Vietnamese smartphone market share.
“Chinese brands are occupying the Russian market.” The Russian “Kommersant” reported on the 4th that Chinese brands of mobile phones, tablets, laptops and household appliances began to replace those major suppliers who left Russia. Russian experts believe that Chinese brands will soon occupy 90% of Russia’s mobile phone and household appliances market share. According to the report, in the first half of this year, Chinese mobile phone brands such as Realme, Huawei , Xiaomi, Decano, Infinix, and iTel became the sales leaders in the Russian market. The data shows that the annual growth rate of sales of Decano, Infinix, Realme and Xiaomi is more than 100%. Meanwhile, Apple ‘s share fell 14% year over year and Samsung ‘s 15%.
In the first half of this year, more than 10 million mobile phones were sold in Russia, a year-on-year decrease of 23%. According to a report released by the Russian e-commerce platform Yandex Market, the share of Chinese brand electronic products doubled year-on-year in the first quarter. According to the report, in the context of some Western suppliers leaving the Russian market, Russian consumers are paying more attention to lesser-known or new brands, which are usually Chinese, Turkish or Russian manufacturers. Alexander Surkov, head of the Russian GS Group Analysis Center, said that the Chinese brands Xiaomi, Honor and Realme in Russia will soon replace the Russian mobile phone market leaders Apple and Samsung. Russian experts are convinced that in the absence of other suppliers, retail chains and large distributors will sign long-term contracts with Chinese companies, which will further consolidate China’s position in the Russian market. In the near future, Chinese brands will occupy 90% of the Russian market.
The first half of 2022 saw hard-won gains for Chinese smartphones in multiple markets, especially as the Chinese smartphone market declined in the first quarter. According to the latest report from Counterpoint Research, the global mobile phone market sales in May 2022 fell by 4% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year to 96 million units. This is the second time in nearly 10 years that it has fallen below 100 million units, and a firm grasp of emerging markets is a key factor in the success of Chinese smartphone brands.
The latest report from Counterpoint shows that Indian-made smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2022 increased by 7% year-on-year to more than 48 million units. Among them, the largest contributor is the Chinese brand OPPO, with shipments reaching 10.36 million units and a market share of 21.6%. It was followed by Samsung with 10.22 million units shipped and a market share of 21.3%, ranking second. Another Chinese brand, vivo, came in third with an 11.7% share. According to people familiar with the matter, OPPO has begun negotiations with Indian manufacturer Lava, and Lava will undertake product assembly and export by the end of 2022 at the earliest. This move is expected to accelerate the global product layout of domestic smartphone brands.
At the same time, in some developed markets, Chinese smartphone brands have begun to focus on strengthening consumer participation and comprehensively enhancing their brand image and product strength. “Nihon Keizai Shimbun” reported that Xiaomi recently set up a product research and development base in Japan with consumer participation. The purpose of this base is to allow consumers to try out pre-market products, etc., to listen to their opinions, and to add functions to products based on these opinions. (Liu Yupeng)
