Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi sells 15 million smartphones in three months

Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi has sold 15 million smartphones in the past three months. While figures and estimates from other manufacturers for this period are yet to follow, it looks like Xiaomi could be the global number three behind Apple and Samsung.

The fact that Xiaomi sold 15.1 million smartphones in recent months is partly because production for the top model Mi3 started and the Hongmi line of cheaper models continued, with Xiaomi offering a new model with the Hongmi Note. The manufacturer also expanded to Singapore.

It seems that Xiaomi could turn out to be the third smartphone maker in the world after Apple and Samsung: Huawei was the world number three in the first months of 2014 with 13.7 million devices delivered. However, Huawei’s Ascend P7 didn’t come out until the end of the quarter, so it probably won’t have much impact on the results. Apple sold 43.7 million smartphones in the first three months, Samsung does not release figures, but analysts estimate that the South Koreans could sell 85 million units. In all cases, these are devices supplied, not telephones actually sold to consumers.

XIaomi officially only sells its devices in a few countries such as China and Singapore, and that happens in batches: anyone can order a copy via the internet until the batch is sold out, which often happens within minutes. This is mainly due to middlemen who buy copies and hope to sell them on for a profit.