Chinese smartphone manufacturers seize the European market, with shipments quadrupling in two years

Strategy Analytics: Chinese smartphone manufacturers seize the European market, with shipments quadrupling in two years

Against the backdrop of Huawei's strategic retreat, a new group of Chinese smartphone manufacturers are conquering Europe. From Q1 2019 to Q1 2021, shipments of Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, Realme and OnePlus in Europe almost quadrupled in two years.

Chinese smartphone vendors typically enter the European market through Europe's eastern borders and then move to the West about a year later. The combined market share of the five Chinese smartphone "newcomers" in Central and Eastern Europe is about 10%-15% higher than in Western Europe, but the gap is likely to narrow over time as companies build better brand recognition in Western Europe.

In 2020, the average wholesale selling price of smartphones in Central and Eastern Europe was around $200, which is the sweet spot for Chinese OEMs. About half of the smartphone sales of four of the five Chinese manufacturers mentioned above are in the mid-price range ($100-190).

However, OnePlus is an exception, with premium smartphones (>$300) accounting for nearly three-quarters of its sales. This explains why OnePlus is the only one of the five vendors to have a larger market share in Western Europe than in Central and Eastern Europe.

Despite their great success, Chinese "newcomers" still need to be aware of some challenges, including weak brand awareness, growth bottlenecks caused by Huawei's withdrawal from the European market, no attractive flagship devices or breakthrough innovations, etc. More importantly, the political tensions between China and the United States, which may even affect their business in Europe.