Huawei reclaims top smartphone OEM spot in China after outgrowing quarterly shipments by Xiaomi

Huawei and Xiaomi in China is the equivalent of Apple and Samsung for the rest of the world — two smartphone superpowers fighting and shifting between places 1 and 2 that seem to be exclusively destined for them, while the rest of their peers are fighting for the scraps. A new shift seems to have occured between Huawei and Xiaomi, as the latter successfully reclaimed the first place from its smartphone rival after a tremendous quarter! Research company Canalys reported that Huawei is once again China's top dog, with its shipments having grown 81% year-over-year, while those of Xiaomi declined.

The agency has not disclosed specific numbers yet, but it's pretty clear who's had a better smartphone quarter. While smartphones are still a defining product for Xiaomi, the eager company is spreading itself far and wide in the consumer electronics field, its latest forays being 60-inch TVs and an electric scooter. So it seems natural that the company may have lost focus on its smartphones there for a second, and Huawei took advantage.

That aside, both companies launched plenty of new phones since the start of the year, with Xiaomi working on a proper sequel to the Xiaomi Mi 4 that sounds promising, especially with the potential of introducing Qualcomm's brand new Snapdragon 820 chipset before anyone else does. Such was the case in early 2015, as the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro debuted the Snapdragon 810 processor.