Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun said on the sidelines of the World Internet Conference that reaching their 2015 smartphone sales target of at least 80 million units is not their highest priority.
"This target is not the number one priority for us," the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting Lei when asked if one of the most successful Chinese startups could hit its goal.
"What we care about the most is the rate of customer satisfaction," the Xiaomi executive added.
Lei also played down the sales forecast, saying that he was "constantly pushed by everyone" to disclose a target earlier this year.
Back in July, he said in a statement that Xiaomi has sold at least 34.7 million smartphones for the first half of 2015. The firm sold 61.1 million units last year and 18.7 million units in 2013.
According to analysts, the doubts in the firm's capacity to sell 80 million units come from strong domestic competition and the saturation in the Chinese smartphone market.
The 5-year-old smartphone maker has been steadily growing because of its bargain prices, viral marketing and innovative online "flash sales."
For the third quarter, it was hailed as the world's fifth largest smartphone maker in terms of shipments. With 5.2 percent market share, it landed behind Samsung Electronics Co., Apple Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. and Lenovo Group Ltd., market research firm IDC noted.
With the continued fierce competition faced by Xiaomi, it has sought to rev up sales by expanding overseas and by working with other companies to develop and offer the market new products.
"For Xiaomi, we currently need to return to our original aspiration, to be like a startup. We need to be more persistent in building a good user experience and product," Lei said.