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Johannesburg - Upstart Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has raised $1.1bn amid surging sales of its devices.
Xiaomi makes low cost Android smartphones targeted at emerging markets such as China and India.
According to Gartner, sales of Xiaomi handsets more than quadrupled from 3.617 million units in Q3 2013 to 15.772 million in the same period this year.
Subsequently, Xiaomi has become the world’s fourth biggest smartphone maker behind Samsung, Apple and another Chinese rival Huawei.
“We just completed the latest round of funding last week, raising $1.1bn at valuation of $45bn,” said Xiaomi co-founder and president Bin Lin in a Facebook post on Monday.
“Investors include All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund and Yunfeng Capital among others. This is an affirmation of Xiaomi's stellar results in four years, and heralds a new phase for the company,” he said.
Chinese smartphone emergence
Xiaomi’s entry into the global smartphone market comes amid growing competition from Chinese handset makers.
Gartner research indicates that overall global smartphone sales topped 301 million units in the third quarter of 2014 with dominant players in the market such as Samsung and Apple losing ground to Chinese competitors.
Xiaomi is the world's fourth largest smartphone maker. (Source: Gartner)
According to Gartner, Apple and Samsung’s combined smartphone share equaled 37% in the third quarter of 2014, a figure that is seven percentage points lower compared with the same period last year.
“With the ability to undercut cost and offer top specs Chinese brands are well positioned to expand in the premium phone market too and address the needs of upgrade users that aspire to premium phones, but cannot afford Apple or Samsung high-end products,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.
