Xiaomi is now the world's third- largest smartphone maker.

[iSK]

Beijing: China's Xiaomi Inc has
become the world's third-largest
smartphone vendor just three years
after first hitting the market, trailing
only Samsung Electronics and Apple,
according to a new industry study.

Strategy Analytics said Xiaomi
accounted for 6 per cent of all 320
million smartphones shipped during
July-September. Samsung made up 25
percent, down from 35 per cent a
year earlier due to rising competition
from several directions.

Apple's share also fell slightly to 12
per cent.

"Xiaomi was the star performer,"
Strategy Analytics Executive Director
Neil Mawston said in a statement.
"Samsung continues to face tough
competition from Apple at the
higher-end of the smartphone
market, from Xiaomi and Huawei in
the middle-tiers, and from Lenovo
and others at the entry-level."

Xiaomi has been the top seller in its
home market of China and recently
entered India, where it sells phones
exclusively through e-commerce site
Flipkart.

Vice President Hugo Barra told
Reuters in Bangalore last month that
the company aimed to sell 100,000
phones a week in India in October
when the country celebrates Diwali.

Xiaomi is now the world's third-largest smartphone maker