China-based Xiaomi Technology sold over 61 million smartphone units last year, an increase of 227 percent compared with its 2013 sales figures.
With the massive number of units sold, Xiaomi was able to rake in $11.97 billion in pre-tax sales for 2014, which is higher by 132 percent compared with 2013.
The figures were revealed by Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, through his official microblog account. Lei is often compared with late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs with his presentation style and demeanor.
The impressive sales figures highlight Xiaomi's rapid growth to become the third top smartphone manufacturer in the world, placing it in direct competition with international tech companies Apple and Samsung. The company has mostly done so through selling smartphones at lower costs compared with the flagship smartphones of Apple and Samsung, but coming with the same and sometimes even better specifications and features.
Lei's post, however, did not reveal the company's profits last year. However, a filing that was posted in December showed that Xiaomi is working with very thin profit margins amid the company's rapid expansion into international relevance. The filing revealed that a part of Xiaomi made a net profit of 347.5 million yuan last year, despite raking in revenue of 26.6 billion yuan, which places the operating margin at a razor thin 1.8 percent. In 2013, Xiaomi's profit was only $56 million.
In Lei's blog post, he added that Xiaomi's growth in the smartphone market of China would continue into this year, which would allow the company to put more focus on the innovation of new products and the expansions into more markets overseas.
Lei's post comes as Xiaomi unveils the Redmi 2, which is the company's latest model in its popular Redmi line of smartphones and tablet computers. Like all other Xiaomi smartphones, the Redmi 2 is powered by MIUI, a version of Android customized by Xiaomi that presents an ecosystem of services and apps that could challenge the duopoly in mobile operating systems currently owned by Apple's iOS and Google's Android.
Lei, both Xiaomi's CEO and chairman, owns a 77.8 percent stake in the company, which he co-founded back in 2010. Unnamed stockholders control the remainder of the company's ownership.
Xiaomi's value, however, continues to increase in the eye of investors, as last week, the company was able to raise $1.1 billion in a funding round that placed the company's value at more than $46 billion. The raised investments have earned the company the moniker of being the "world's most valuable tech startup."
