London, Oct 10 (IANS): Global smartphone brand Xiaomi has captured an estimated 42 per cent of total 5G smartphone shipments in Central and Eastern Europe in the third quarter of 2021, says a new report.

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, Xiaomi will remain the 5G leader above Apple and Samsung in the region till 2022.

"Xiaomi is the leading Android 5G smartphone vendor globally in Q3 2021 and is the leading 5G smartphone vendor overall in Central and Eastern Europe," Strategy Analytics Associate Director Ville-Petteri Ukonaho said in a statement.

The report said that Xiaomi's 5G smartphone shipments have grown past Apple and Samsung over the past year to take the top spot in 5G smartphones in the region.

"Xiaomi is capitalising on the absence of Huawei, as well as its own portfolio of high-quality affordable 5G smartphones such as the Redmi Note 9T 5G and Mi 11 5G," said senior analyst Yiwen Wu.

The report said that Apple captured second place in 5G smartphone shipments in the third quarter in the Central and Eastern Europe region, in only its third quarter of offering 5G smartphones.

Samsung, with its lineup of more affordable 5G smartphones took third place with a share of 11.5 per cent of 5G smartphones shipped in the region, drifting from 34.3 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

realme and OnePlus rounded out the top-5 5G smartphone vendors in Central and Eastern Europe with a share of 7.2 per cent and 2.5 per cent of 5G smartphone shipments respectively.