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"As\u00A0popular Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi's overseas expansion gets into high gear -- with recent launches in Malaysia, the Philippines and India -- the company has just announced that it sold 26.1 million smartphones in the first half of this year. Other than marking a jump of 271 percent from a year earlier, this means Xiaomi has already surpassed the number of units sold for the whole of 2013.\r\n\r\nXiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, up 160 percent from a year earlier and more than its\u00A0initial target of 15 million devices.\r\n\r\nFor the first six months of 2014, Xiaomi's CEO Lei Jun also revealed that it hauled in total revenue of CNY33 billion ($5.3 billion), up 149 percent from the same period a year earlier.\u00A0This figure isn\u2019t indicative of profit, but it is still\u00A0rather remarkable considering that Xiaomi released\u00A0its first device as recently as 2011.\r\n\r\nXiaomi had already shipped\u00A011 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year, and\u00A0Lei previously\u00A0stated\u00A0that the company expects to ship 40 million smartphones for 2014, but said\u00A0that it could reach 60 million units instead.\r\n\r\nLei has also said that he expects Xiaomi to ship 100 million smartphones next year.\r\n\r\nXiaomi took its first step outside of Greater China by moving into\u00A0Singapore\u00A0-- and has been extremely busy widening its reach to other parts of Southeast Asia, and most recently India.\u00A0The company\u2019s international ambitions have been driven by high-profile former Google VP\u00A0Hugo Barra \u2014 and now VP for Xiaomi Global. After making steps in Asia, there are also indications that Xiaomi is looking to introduce its devices in Latin America.\r\n\r\nXiaomi has made a name for itself by selling smartphones packed with high-end specs but at lower prices compared to other Android phone manufacturers including Samsung and HTC -- which appeals to\u00A0price-conscious customers in emerging markets.\u00A0For example, in Singapore, the\u00A0budget Redmi costs just S$169 ($134), while\u00A0Xiaomi\u2019s flagship Mi 3\u00A0has a price tag of S$419 ($332) unlocked.\r\n\r\nHeadline image via Hugo Barra/Google+"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://thenextweb.com/asia/2014/07/02/xiaomi-sells-26-1m-smartphones-in-the-first-half-of-2014-surpassing-unit-sales-for-whole-of-2013/>