SINGAPORE: Xiaomi and Huawei accounted for one-in-three of all smartphone shipments in China in Q2 2015 as they put further pressure on global brands Apple and Samsung, new industry data has revealed.

According to figures from research firm Canalys, Xiaomi regained its title as China's top smartphone vendor with 15.9% of the market, after edging ahead of Huawei, which took 15.7% market share.

However, Huawei grew 48% sequentially, making it the fastest growing brand in the Canalys top 10. Meanwhile, Apple dropped to third place, followed by Samsung and China's Vivo.

Canalys did not release estimates for the market share secured by Apple or Samsung and said it would publish a full report for its clients later this week.

Jingwen Wang, a Canalys analyst, said that the overall Chinese smartphone market had remained "stagnant" over the quarter as it continued to mature, but competition was fierce.

"Competition among major brands has never been so intense," he said. "Huawei recorded the highest smartphone shipments in its history without compromising its product margin or profitability.

"Apple and Samsung have both increased their sales activities in the China market, expanding rapidly in channel coverage through flagship stores and small- to medium-sized phone retailers respectively."

The intense competition in the country meant that Huawei is "hot on the heels" of Xiaomi, he said, placing the market leader "under immense pressure to maintain its top position in the quarters to come".

India, the world's other fastest growing mobile market, is also seeing global brands coming under pressure from Asian vendors, The Register reported.

While Samsung remains the largest smartphone brand in India with 21% share of the market, India's Micromax is ranked second with 19.1%, followed by fellow Indian manufacturers Intex and Lava, and then Lenovo of China in fifth.

Data sourced from Canalys, The Register; additional content by Warc staff