Chinese markets are now expanding in Europe's market. Xiaomi, one of the largest smartphone maker in China and the fifth-largest seller in the world, announced its plan to triple its number of stores in Western Europe by the end of 2019.
The Chinese firm started its European location in Spain in 2017. The company said that it hopes to operate not less than 150 stores in the region as the year ends. The company has around 50 stores in 2018. Wang Xiang, Xiaomi Senior Vice President, told Tom Chitty, a reporter from the CNBC, on Sunday during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Europe is a big target for the company.
Another Chinese company, Oppo, announced their plan to launch their products in three regions in Europe. According to the IDC, a market research firm, Oppo products in the U.K. surpassed Xiaomi as they become the fourth-largest smartphone vendors in the world during the fourth quarter of 2018. The current leaders in smartphone sales globally are Samsung, Huawei, and Apple.
The Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE were criticized by the United States government as they claim that the techs enable spying for the Chinese government. The United States and its allies call for a boycott of the Chinese devices. Huawei, Xiaomi, and Oppo focused their trade to Europe in response to the United States skepticism.
Ben Stanton, senior analyst at research firm Canalys noted on his report earlier this month that the political situation between Chinese companies and the U.S. government has benefited European consumers. He added that the Trump administration is causing Chinese companies to invest in Europe over the United States.
Recently, Chinese firms including Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus and Huawei made aggressive moves to expand in Europe. The low price of the products and the new innovations in it attracts European customers. The European market also imposes fewer barriers than the American market. Wang said that the United States market is always attractive but it is also very different from others since the carrier plays a very important role there and users need to do a lot of customization.
Chinese firm's European strategy produced positive results. According to Canalys, Xiaomi's shipments to Europe increased by 62 percent in 2018. Huawei also gained an increase of 56 percent. Apple and Samsung shipments both decreased during the same period. Bo Pi, chief technology officer at China's Goodix, said that the Chinese smartphone makers are much more aggressive as they try a whole new kind of format, a new technology.
