Xiaomi Mi3, the hot smartphone's popularity beats iPhone

Think smartphones and the brands that come to your mind would invariably be Apple or Samsung. Now, a Chinese phone maker is silently making its presence felt worldwide.

Thanks to Xiaomi (pronounced Shiao-Me) whose recent launch created waves in the smartphone market-yes,the cheap substitute to the big smartphone names in the market registered record sales on FlipKart. Priced at Rs 13,999, the phone was sold out within seconds. There were some 2.5 lakh customers who were vying to lay their lands on the latest Chinese hot cake.

Xiaomi is a celebrity player in the Chinese market that has made tech giants like Samsung and Apple sit up and take notice.

The company's revenue which is only three years old was about $2.15 billion in 2013.

According to a report, the staff who work at the China company are with experience from Microsoft and Google. The brand is now being dubbed as a poor man's Apple! The Mi-3 which was recently launched is being dubbed as the world's fastest smartphone. Rich buyers however, argue that the phone can come nowhere close to an iPhone or a Galaxy in quality. But then how would you explain research firm Canalys report which said that Xiaomi's marker share in China surpassed Apple?

The Chinese mobile manufacturer CEO, Lei Jun said at a conference that Xiaomi updates its Android software every week after the engineers get feedback from the customers. However, market research analysts feel that this may become challenging particularly if the company has expansion plans. The company just entered the Indian market. Each country has a unique user base whose needs are different, so modifying the phone as per their tastes is too far fetched. After all, one can't please everyone.