China's "Little Rice" Has Gotten Big

Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone maker with the diminutive name, became the leading smartphone vendor in China in the second quarter, with its shipments exceeding Samsung’s for the first time, according to figures from market research firm Canalys.

Xiaomi led China’s second-quarter smartphone shipment rankings with 14% market share, followed by Samsung, Lenovo and Yulong each with 12%. It’s quite a jump from the first quarter, when Xiaomi’s 10.7% market share trailed Samsung’s 18.3% and Lenovo’s 11%. And an even bigger leap from a year ago, when Xiaomi only held 5%.

Canalys Shanghai-based analyst Jingwen Wang said in a telephone interview that the popularity of devices in Xiaomi’s budget Redmi series – including the Redmi, Redmi 1S and Redmi Note – helped account for the second-quarter boost.