Apple and Samsung take up the majority of the global smartphone market, and if you’re looking for alternative choices beyond these two brands, the Google Pixel series seems like a great option. Even Motorola makes good phones like the Razr Ultra 2025, but none of these brands capture the market share like Xiaomi. The Chinese smartphone maker is gradually carving out a place in the market share of the biggest phone brands, and its sub-brand Redmi is one of the main reasons for this explosive growth. Statcounter’s global mobile phone vendor market share chart shows Xiaomi as the fourth most used mobile phone brand, with a huge lead over its competitors.
Oppo captures 5.64% market share in fifth position, while Xiaomi stands at 8.84% as of May 2026. Google and Motorola capture 2.69% and 3.37%, respectively, as mentioned in the latest report. The Redmi A5 smartphone has secured a place in the top 10 bestseller list curated by Counterpoint for two successive quarters (Q4 2025 and Q1 2026). The phone is particularly popular in the Middle East, South America and Africa due to its affordable price.
Xiaomi is much bigger than you think
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Xiaomi does not sell smartphones in the United States due to regulatory challenges and trade hurdles. However, it is a massive smartphone brand in China. It has a significant consumer base in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Europe and several other regions.
Xiaomi uses a different strategy than Apple and Google, making phones for the budget, mid-range, and high-end smartphone segments. Nearly 50% of Xiaomi’s revenue comes from smartphones, and Redmi is the largest contributor in this product category. The company doesn’t highlight the individual number of phones each brand sells each year. However, Redmi budget phones appearing on Counterpoint’s global best-selling smartphone list suggests that it is one of Xiaomi’s best-selling smartphone series.
The Redmi A5 is a budget smartphone with entry-level hardware specifications, 4G network compatibility, and basic software support. Nevertheless, it is very suitable for users who need a cheap Android smartphone. Redmi phones have been consistently making the list for quite some time. Before the Redmi A5, the Redmi 14C 4G landed a ninth place on the list in Q2 2025. A few years ago, the Redmi 13 C and Redmi 12C remained in the top 10 in 2023 and 2024.
Motorola and Google Pixel lack mass appeal
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Google Pixel and a few Motorola phones cater to the premium user segment in some countries. You can buy a Google Pixel in popular countries like the US, UK and a few others, but Xiaomi’s strategy is completely opposite. You can easily buy a Xiaomi phone in over 100 countries, making it the next big global phone brand after Samsung and Apple, simply by appealing to a mass audience.
The entry barrier is very low and you can easily find a Redmi phone between $150-200 with dual SIM support and a high capacity battery. Motorola offers a budget range like Xiaomi, but it positions itself as a close to stock Android experience, rather than offering a heavily customized interface like Xiaomi’s HyperOS. Xiaomi phones attempt to appear as a better value proposition with more features and offer solid specifications at competitive prices. Xiaomi maintains a distinct lineup of premium phones that also show positive year-over-year growth, but the budget lineup remains its biggest advantage.
