Xiaomi Revenue Fails to Meet Expectations as Competition Intensifies

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi on Tuesday reported a smaller than expected 8.2 percent rise in third-quarter revenue, hurt by intensifying competition from domestic rivals Oppo and Vivo.

Sales rose to CNY 78.06 billion (roughly Rs. 90,910 crore) in the three months to September 30. Analysts had expected CNY 79.20 billion (roughly Rs. 92,300 crore), Refinitiv data shows.

Profit slumped 84 percent to CNY 788.6 million (roughly Rs. 920 crore), which Xiaomi attributed to changes in the valuation of companies in its investment portfolio.

Excluding one-time gains and losses, Xiaomi earned CNY 5.18 billion (roughly Rs. 6,040 crore) in profit, largely in line with the average analyst expectations for CNY 5.09 billion (roughly Rs. 5,930 crore).

Xiaomi’s smartphone revenue rose just 0.4 percent to CNY 47.8 billion (roughly Rs. 55,655 crore).

Overall smartphone sales in China fell 5 percent in the July-September period, according to research firm Canalys.

Xiaomi has managed to gain market share this year due to the retreat of its key rival Huawei, which saw its smartphone business tank following US sanctions.

But the company has not grown at the same rate as top-selling rivals Oppo and Vivo, while Honor – a spin-off brand from Huawei – surpassed Xiaomi in the third quarter to become China’s third largest smartphone maker in terms of market share.

Xiaomi’s shipments in China grew just 4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, Canalys said.

Facing tight competition in a shrinking market, the company has responded by launching an aggressive push into brick-and-mortar retail, a sector it has long lagged in.

In late October, Xiaomi announced it had opened its 10,000th store in China, and committed to tripling that count over the next two to three years.

© Thomson Reuters 2021