Lei Jun, Xiaomi founder and chief executive officer, at the launching ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 4 in Beijing last year. (Photo : Reuters)
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is expecting sales and shipments of smartphones to increase by more than 30 percent this year as demand in the international market continues to grow.
Lei Jun, Xiaomi Chief Executive, told the Wall Street Journal on March 5 that the company is expecting more than 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) from sales this year. The company sales had more than doubled to 74.3 billion yuan last year.
The report said that the company is expecting to sell 80 to 100 million smartphones in 2015, more than last year's record of 61.1 million.
Xiaomi began selling smartphones in 2011 and became one of the world's fastest-growing tech companies. Last year, it became the world's most valuable startup, with resources worth $46 billion.
Lei declared that he aims to make Xiaomi the biggest smartphone maker in the world in the coming decade.
IDC, a market research firm, has placed Xiaomi as the fifth-largest smartphone maker in the word in the fourth quarter, taking 4.4-percent share of the market.
The Xiaomi chief executive said that, this year, the main focus of their global expansion plan would be India and other markets outside the country such as Brazil and Russia.
Although it has started selling accessories in the U.S. through online carriers, the company has no plans yet to sell phones to U.S. and markets in other developed countries.
Lei, also a member of the country's parliament, the National People's Congress, has proposed some revisions to laws to boost the business climate for the country's innovative companies.
Other industry executives also urged the government to develop a national plan to help advance artificial intelligence technologies.
