(Yicai) Aug. 13 -- Xiaomi, a major Chinese maker of consumer electronics and electric vehicles, took the top spot for smartphone shipments in the Southeast Asian market in the second quarter for the first time in four years.

Beijing-based Xiaomi shipped 4.7 million phones in SE Asia in the three months ended June 30, up 8 percent from a year earlier, according to figures market research firm Canalys released today. China’s Transsion and South Korea’s Samsung ranked second and third, with shipments of 4.5 million and 4.3 million, respectively.

Xiaomi’s performance was driven by the expansion of its direct-to-consumer and operator channels, which created a solid foundation to scale its sub-brands, said Le Xuan, research manager at Canalys. Shipments of Poco, Xiaomi’s budget phone brand for overseas markets, more than doubled, while those of the premium Xiaomi 15 series surged 54 percent, he added.

But overall shipments in the SE Asian handset market slipped 1 percent to 25 million units in the quarter, weighed down by uncertainty over US tariffs, according to Canalys.

“The ongoing US-China trade tensions are creating significant knock-on effects, as vendors realign supply chains away from China to prioritize shipments for the United States,” Le noted. “This inevitably impacts production and stock allocation from manufacturing hubs such as China and Vietnam to both Southeast Asia and the US, disrupting inventory planning and constraining product availability.

“At the same time, currency volatility, particularly a weakened US dollar, is influencing local purchasing power and retail pricing, forcing vendors to adjust prices or promotions to remain competitive,” Le added.

“Differentiating beyond price in the mass market segments is an ongoing challenge for all vendors,” according to Sheng Win Chow, senior analyst at Canalys.

Xiaomi and Transsion are leaders in the budget smartphone segment, with competitive prices and aggressive trade incentives, Sheng noted, adding that competition is especially fierce at the entry level, so some brands are finding success by moving upmarket.

An example of ‘premiumization’ is Honor Device, which was spun off from Chinese telecoms giant Huawei Technologies five years ago. Its shipments in SE Asia surged 121 percent in the second quarter, surpassing one million units for the first time, Canalys data showed.

Editor: Futura Costaglione