Samsung is no longer the biggest smartphone vendor in Europe

(Image credit: Xiaomi)

New figures have claimed Samsung has lost its top spot as the largest smartphone vendor in the EMEA region.

According to the latest research from analyst firm Strategy Analytics, Chinese firm Xiaomi has overtaken Samsung following a huge rise in sales over the past 12 months.

The report found that Xiaomi shipped 12.7m smartphones across EMEA in Q2 2021, a massive 67.1% year-on-year increase that gave it 25.3% of the total device market in the region.

Xiaomi vs Samsung

Strategy Analytics pointed to strong sales in Russia, Ukraine, Spain and Italy as some of the reasons behind Xiaomi's success, with the company rolling out a number of its Mi and Redmi series of phones in the territories.

The news follows a recent Omdia report which claimed Xiaomi was also now the second-largest smartphone vendor globally (behind Samsung) following a surge of shipments in 2021.

Samsung sales fell 7.0% year-on-year, but the company took second place with 12.0m devices shipped in the period to claim 24.0% market share.

The company enjoyed strong sales of its 5G-ready Galaxy A series of smartphones, but still faces strong competition from Apple when it comes to the high-end device market, which could be affecting sales.

Apple took third place in EMEA, with its 9.6m shipments in the quarter giving it a 19.2% market share, ahead of Oppo (2.8m shipments for 5.6% share) and realme, whose 1.9m shipments for a 3.8% share represented a 1800% year-on-year growth.

Overall, the EMEA region saw 50.1m devices shipped during the Q2 2021, a 14.4% increase from the same period in 2020 as the global recovery from the pandemic continues to bear fruit for technology firms.

Samsung's fortunes could be set for a turnaround soon, with the second half of 2021 set to see the company's traditional release window for new devices.

Anticipation is growing that the company will release new smartphones, including rumored Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3 devices, at its Galaxy Unpacked event scheduled for August 11.

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Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.