Xiaomi Smartphone Sales Hit Minor Speed Bump, Jeopardizing 2015 Forecast Of 80M Units
The mobile sector is a funny business. One minute you're red hot, the next you're ice cold. We've seen it happen to HTC, a pioneer in the Android space that's now struggling to compete with Samsung and Apple, and speaking of which, we've seen Samsung have its ups and downs, too. Same goes for Xiaomi, only it's recent troubles are pretty minor in comparison.
Xiaomi, the top smartphone player in China, reported semi-annual sales that for the first time ended up being lower than the previous six-month period. As such, the company's full-year forecast might not be met, which would be the least of Xiaomi's concerns. The bigger issue is whether or not the sagging sales means it's losing momentum.
The firm reported 34.7 million smartphone sales from January to June, which is slightly less than the 35 million it sold from July to December of last year. Prior to now, Xiaomi hasn't posted a sequential decline in handset sales. While it's not a big drop in shipments, it does put a question mark on whether the company will be able to reach its goal of selling 80 million smartphones by the end of the year.
Smartphone sales in China are down overall, not just for Xiaomi. And before reading too much into this, it's we should note that Xiaomi more than doubled its revenue in 2014 to $12 billion, up 135 percent from the prior year. That said, Xiaomi didn't release any profit figures, and it's believed the firm is operating on razor thin profit margins. If that's the case, even a small decline in smartphone sales can be cause for at least a little bit of concern.
Time will tell whether Xiaomi is on the decline, as we've seen happen to other firms, or if this truly is just a temporary setback.
Xiaomi, the top smartphone player in China, reported semi-annual sales that for the first time ended up being lower than the previous six-month period. As such, the company's full-year forecast might not be met, which would be the least of Xiaomi's concerns. The bigger issue is whether or not the sagging sales means it's losing momentum.
The firm reported 34.7 million smartphone sales from January to June, which is slightly less than the 35 million it sold from July to December of last year. Prior to now, Xiaomi hasn't posted a sequential decline in handset sales. While it's not a big drop in shipments, it does put a question mark on whether the company will be able to reach its goal of selling 80 million smartphones by the end of the year.
Smartphone sales in China are down overall, not just for Xiaomi. And before reading too much into this, it's we should note that Xiaomi more than doubled its revenue in 2014 to $12 billion, up 135 percent from the prior year. That said, Xiaomi didn't release any profit figures, and it's believed the firm is operating on razor thin profit margins. If that's the case, even a small decline in smartphone sales can be cause for at least a little bit of concern.
Time will tell whether Xiaomi is on the decline, as we've seen happen to other firms, or if this truly is just a temporary setback.
