Huawei fell out of the top five brands for smartphone shipments in Latin America in Q4 2020, with Xiaomi benefitting from its rival’s decline to take third spot, Counterpoint Research showed.

The research company placed Xiaomi’s share at 6.7 per cent in the recent period, up from 4.4 per cent in Q4 2019, ranking it third behind market leader Samsung (36.9 per cent) and Motorola (18.4 per cent).

Research associate Monika Sharma said Xiaomi experienced the biggest growth during the quarter, marking the first time it was ranked as the third-largest player in the region.

“Looking at the trend, it will surely remain the third player in Latin America in 2021,” she said.

Sharma added the top three “took advantage of Huawei’s weakening position”, which Counterpoint Research attributed to the effects of the vendor’s ban on accessing US software and components.

Notably, Huawei disposed of its Honor subsidiary during the quarter, so it is unclear if the reduced market share reflects the sale or not.

Shipments drop
Apple and LG rounded out the top five, with 5.6 per cent and 4.6 per cent market shares respectively.

Overall, shipments in Latin America dropped 10.3 per cent year-on-year in Q4, though Counterpoint Research highlighted sequential improvement, citing a recovery from the impact of Covid-19 (coronavirus) along with regular seasonality.

Senior analyst Tina Lu said the market picked up in H2 2020, with a surge in promotional events which increased further in Q4 and a shift in focus to tap “offline” potential.

“Samsung was among the most aggressive in promoting its online channel and expanding its presence in the region.”