Xiaomi has taken third place in the Latin American smartphone market after rival Huawei dropped out of the top five brands in Q4 2020.
Counterpoint Research noted that Xiaomi’s share rose to 6.7% from 4.4% in Q4 2019, marking the first time it has entered the top three. However, it is still significantly behind second-placed Motorola (18.4%) and market leader Samsung (36.9%).
Nonetheless, Xiaomi was the vendor to exhibit the strongest growth over the quarter, with Counterpoint Research associate Monika Sharma saying: “Looking at the trend, [Xiaomi] will surely remain the third player in Latin America in 2021.” It has surpassed Apple (5.6%) and LG (4.6%).
Huawei’s exit from the top five was attributed by Counterpoint to the effect of the US embargo preventing the vendor from using American-made software and equipment. However, the Chinese vendor also sold off its Honor subsidiary during the quarter, which could have impacted its market position.
More broadly, Latin American smartphone shipments fell 10.3% year-on-year during the quarter, although Counterpoint noted an evident recovery from the initial impact of the pandemic, with senior analyst Tina Lu noting that the market had sustained momentum in H2 2020.
