“Privately owned Xiaomi Technology Ltd Co [XTC.UL] booked 347.5 million yuan ($56 million) in net profit last year, according to a regulatory filing that showed the world’s No.3 smartphone maker grappling razor-thin margins,” Gerry Shih reports for Reuters.
“The figure casts new light on the growth of a company that reached third place in just four years thanks to handsets lauded for balancing quality and affordability. Only this month did momentum finally stall when a patent challenge in India halted sales,” Shih reports. “Valued by private investors at more than $10 billion, Xiaomi recorded revenue of 26.6 billion yuan and an operating margin of just 1.8 percent.”
“Apple reported 28.7 percent [operating margin] for the business year ended September 2013. LG Electronics Inc’s (066570.KS) mobile business posted a margin of just 0.5 percent,” Shih reports. “South Korea’s LG lost its position as the world’s third-biggest smartphone maker during the third quarter of this year when Xiaomi claimed a global market share of 5.6 percent, according to Strategy Analytics.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ranking companies as “biggest” based on units is a fool’s errand.
Xiaomi, with their iPhone knockoffs, not making it up in volume.
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