Xiaomi breaks into global top 10 for smartphone shipments, kicks out HTC

279.4 million smartphones shipped globally in Q1 2014 – and 97.5 million of those are in China. The most significant change in the newest figures from Canalys is that Chinese phone-maker Xiaomi has broken into the global top 10 for the first time.

Boosted by buyers in China, half of the worldwide top 10 phone brands are now Chinese. Huawei is third, Lenovo fourth, Xiaomi debuts in sixth, Coolpad is eighth, and ZTE is ninth. Samsung remains the global smartphone leader, accounting for 31 percent of shipments, while Apple is second with 16 percent.

According to analyst Tomi Ahonen this morning on Twitter, Xiaomi’s entrance effectively kicks HTC out of the global top ten:

BTW Canalys reports now what I've told you weeks ago – Xiaomi has entered Top 10 largest smartphone makers in Q1 (ousting HTC)

— tomiahonen (@tomiahonen) May 13, 2014

Samsung still rocking China

Despite all the homegrown competition, Samsung is still ahead of the pack in China, where it leads with 18 percent market share. Xiaomi got a huge boost in its home market in the newest numbers, now moving up to third place. Canalys doesn’t give the full list of 10 for either China or the global line-up.

See: 15 new Asian smartphone makers hoping to crush Samsung and Apple

Xiaomi ships 97 percent of its phones in mainland China, according to Canalys. So it’s not truly a global player in the same way as Chinese brands like Huawei, which ships 45 percent of its smartphones outside of China.

Xiaomi sells its Android-based phones in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. The upstart brand is working on launches in 10 new countries this year, including major markets like India and Indonesia. Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra explained to Tech in Asia last week that its next launch will happen in Malaysia in the next few weeks.