In a Weibo post today, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun confirmed that the Chinese smartphone manufacturer sold close to 61 Million handsets in the year 2014 and that the company has plans in place, to expand to other countries.
In terms of exact numbers, Jun said that the company sold 61.12 Million smartphones in 2014, which brought in a staggering consolidated revenue of 74.3 billion CNY ($12 billion). For comparison, the company sold 18.7 million devices in 2013, and 7.2 million in 2012.
The company, which grew at a 159% growth rate in 2013, registered a startling 227% growth rate in 2014. The company also reached the third spot in worldwide mobile shipments, after ousting Samsung to become No.1 in China.
Lei Jun had earlier stated that the company aims to ship over 100 Million devices in 2015, and by the looks of Xiaomi’s current number and its exponential growth rate, 100 Million may well be within its reach by the end of second quarter itself.
Apart from disclosing sales numbers, Jun also confirmed that the company aims to expand to other countries. Though he did not divulge the specifics, Xiaomi had previously hinted to expand further into South-East Asia and mark its entry into Mexico and Brazil.
The country will further bolster its presence in India, which has been a major contributor to Xiaomi’s ever-increasing growth numbers. Though the Chinese brand suffered a setback when the Delhi High Court granted an ex-parte injunction against it on Ericsson’s plea, the company successfully overcame that legal battle when the same court lifted the previously imposed ban, partially.
The company has been going strong, ever since its inception, with its valuation now reaching a mammoth $45 Billion making it the world’s third most valuable tech-start-up. It achieved the same when it recently raised a $1.1 Billion investment led by All-Stars Investment, a tech investment fund run by former Morgan Stanley analyst Richard Ji.
