Chinese brand Xiaomi sold around 14.8 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2016, including overseas sales, says Kevin Wang of IHS Technology.

The company's sales number so far this year almost matches last year's sales of 14.98 million handsets around the same time. However, Xiaomi has not officially announced the first-quarter sales figures yet.

The company is now the biggest brand in China, next to Huawei, and sold 70 million handsets in 2015. But the company was not very happy with this number as it had upped its sales target to 80 million that year. Despite the miss, Xiaomi did very well and even topped Huawei in the Chinese-market sales. However, Huawei still has an edge over its competitor as their devices are sold all over the world, whereas Xiaomi has stuck to selling its products at specific markets only.

One reason for the company missing its target can be failure to launch a flagship device for quite some time. The Mi 5 is finally here after taking almost two years in the making, but the device was released by way of flash sales and is yet to impact the sales figures on a larger scale. The Redmi 3 smartphone has also been introduced to the Chinese market, which was followed by the Redmi Note 3.

India is Xiaomi's biggest market, after its home ground, with the company successfully catering to the needs of the huge consumer base that is always looking for smartphones with high-end specs at a budget-friendly price. The 2016 Xiaomi models have also crept into the country, and the company's ambitions now include setting up single-brand retail stores to sell the Mi products in India.

Xiaomi apparently also has another device up its sleeve, called Xiaomi Max. With a rumored 6.4-inch display, this phablet may just be Xiaomi's biggest smartphone yet although an official announcement has yet to settle all speculations.

Photo: Vernon Chan | Flickr