Xiaomi Corp (小米) reported a 37 percent increase in quarterly profit as China’s top smartphone maker took advantage of Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) retreat to consolidate its lead in the market.
Adjusted net income was 3.2 billion yuan (US$490.6 million) in the fourth quarter last year, beating analysts’ average estimate of 2.89 billion yuan, and profit included one-time gains on the fair value of investments, the company said in a filing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Revenue jumped 25 percent to 70.5 billion yuan, it said.
Photo: Bloomberg
The Beijing-based firm grew smartphone shipments by 32 percent in the last three months of the year, leading the crop of Chinese phonemakers grabbing market share from Huawei, whose shipments fell more than 40 percent under the weight of US sanctions.
More than one-10th of smartphones shipped during the December holiday season came from Xiaomi, behind Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co only, research firm International Data Corp said.
However, growth in the next few quarters might be capped by a shortage of vital components, including semiconductors, executives told reporters.
“The chip shortage will become a big challenge this year and the next,” Xiaomi president Wang Xiang (王翔) said on a call after the earnings were released. “We are working with partners to have a better supply situation.”
He added he is “optimistic” that Xiaomi is on track for growth this year, despite component shortages.
Xiaomi’s share of the China smartphone market climbed to 14.6 percent last quarter from 9.2 percent a year earlier, the company said in a statement.
It retained its lead in India in the quarter, and was ranked No. 1 in central and eastern Europe for the first time, Xiaomi said, citing data from Canalys.
Shares of Xiaomi yesterday fell 2.5 percent in Hong Kong before the results were released.
The stock has rebounded from this month’s lows after the company unveiled a HK$10 billion (US$1.29 billion) stock buyback plan and a US federal judge temporarily halted an order by former US president Donald Trump’s administration to restrict US investment in the firm.
Xiaomi has said that the US Department of Defense’s decision to place the company on a list of companies with alleged ties to the Chinese military is “unlawful.”
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