CHINESE tech giant Xiaomi Corp. overtook Apple Inc. to become the world’s top-shipping wearable band vendor in the second quarter of 2021, according to an industrial report.

Xiaomi took the lead with shipments of 8 million units during the period, occupying nearly 20 percent of the market share, data from technology market research firm Canalys showed.

Apple closely followed with a shipment of 7.9 million units, while Huawei Technologies Co. ranked third with a shipment of 3.7 million units, the data showed.

“Xiaomi made a wise move to hasten the release of the Mi Band 6, which is a more compelling device than its predecessor,” said Canalys research analyst Cynthia Chen.

“Xiaomi’s quick pivot to basic watches also helped the company boost its wristwatch shipments by 1.3 million units this quarter,” Chen added.

In the second quarter of 2021, the global wearable band market shipped 40.9 million units of devices, up by 5.6 percent from a year ago, according to Canalys.

Xiaomi’s share of the global smartphone market also grew 83 percent year on year in the second quarter, according to Canalys. It shipped 52.8 million phones, making it the world’s second top-selling brand for the first time in its history, behind Samsung and ahead of Apple.

Xiaomi’s second-quarter revenue rose a record 64 percent from a year earlier as the Hong Kong-listed firm’s sales reached 87.8 billion yuan (US$13.56 billion), up from 53.54 billion a year ago. (SD-Xinhua)