Xiaomi shipped 34.7m smartphones in first half of 2015 as China market 'slowing down'

Xiaomi on Thursday said it sold 34.7 million smartphones in the first six months of this year, casting doubt on the ability of China’s most valuable tech startup to achieve its full-year target.

Chief Executive Lei Jun last year spoke of reaching 100 million shipments this year but in recent months has revised the figure to a more conservative range of 80 million to 100 million.

Xiaomi’s new sales data comes at a moment when industry analysts believe the smartphone market in China - where Xiaomi is No. 1 - may be reaching saturation. Shipments declined in China for the first time in six years during the first quarter, according to research firm IDC, although it is unclear whether the drop was a deviation or the start of a downward trend.

In a statement, Lei framed Xiaomi’s growth as stellar given the market environment.

“Even with the China smartphone market slowing down, we did a stellar job of posting a 33 per cent growth on last year’s numbers,” he said. “It can be said that we outperformed the market and produced an excellent report card.”