Recognition: David Imel / Android Authority
- According to reports, Xiaomi plans to ship between 240 and 300 million smartphones in 2021.
- It is believed that the latter goal is unlikely to be achieved due to limitations in the supply chain.
Xiaomi has had a stellar 2020 so far due to the combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S.-induced decline in Huawei and the focus on new markets. The company overtook Apple for third place in Q3 2020 and appears to be getting closer to Huawei too.
Now, Nikkei Asian Review reports that the company has some incredibly ambitious goals for 2021. The point of sale reports that Xiaomi has spoken to suppliers to order parts for up to 240 million smartphones, citing factual sources.
It is believed that this number will not only exceed Xiaomi’s previous annual shipments, but roughly match Huawei’s record high of 240.6 million smartphones shipped in 2019.
An even higher internal goal
Xiaomi is said to have told some suppliers that its internal goal is to ship 300 million smartphones by 2021. In comparison, according to Counterpoint, Samsung shipped 298 million units in 2019.
A source told him Nikkei Asian Review However, the target of 300 million units shipped is unlikely to be met because chipset vendors Qualcomm and MediaTek are unable to ship such large quantities.
“Xiaomi is setting itself a much more aggressive target for suppliers as it hopes to expand the market before other competitors catch up – and hopes to book and secure more parts to avoid disruptions from the current supply chain bottleneck and lack of components to avoid.” Source was quoted as a saying.
For what it’s worth, it was recently claimed that Samsung was planning to ship its budget Exynos chips to Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo next year. However, it is unclear whether Samsung’s potential contributions would be enough to cover any shortcomings from Qualcomm and MediaTek.
Hitting the more conservative target of 240 million units shipped in 2021 could potentially mean that Xiaomi is creating some distance between itself and Apple. But it could also result in Xiaomi taking second place if Huawei continues to face US sanctions next year. The sale of the Honor sub-brand by Huawei will theoretically also lead to lower deliveries.
Next: Is Xiaomi the new Huawei?