The rivalry between Apple and Samsung receives more attention that any other battle in the smartphone world, but while the two heavy hitters were duking it out, a small Chinese phone maker swiftly ascended to the No. 3 spot in the industry. Xiaomi, founded in 2010, has surpassed some of the market’s biggest names, including Sony, LG and HTC.
According to Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun, this is just the beginning.
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Speaking at the World Internet Conference in China this week, Jun made the bold claim that Xiaomi will surpass Apple and Samsung within the next 5-10 years. This might sound ludicrous to anyone living outside of the select Asian markets where Xiaomi’s products are sold, but the numbers back up Jun’s remarks.
In 2014, over 60 million people bought a Xiaomi device. That number is expected to grow to 100 million in 2015, giving Xiaomi an enormous base of 200 million users.
As PhoneArena notes, in July of this year, Xiaomi was just the fifth-largest smartphone distributor. By November, it was the third-largest. The rate of growth is incredibly impressive, but whether or not the Xiaomi line can knock off the iPhones and Galaxys of the world remains to be seen.
