It’s hard to believe that Xiaomi is only four years old. Founded in 2010 the Chinese company has risen to prominence in a short time and is now the third biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world. The brand has passed industry giants such as Sony, HTC, LG, Lenovo, Motorola, and Huawei and now sits behind Apple and of course Samsung. However, Xiaomi?s has not finished just yet and has its crosshairs firmly pointed at top spot.

Xiaomi may not be a name that’s all that familiar to you, but the smartphone manufacturer is selling a lot of hardware in China, and the select few other markets where its phones are available. New data shows it’s pushing the brands we know aside in its home territory, and the CEO is feeling very positive about the future, to the point where he confidently talks about becoming the world’s number one smartphone manufacturer, perhaps in just five years time. CEO Lei Jun spoke at the World Internet Conference in China, and discussed Xiaomi’s incredible progress since its formation in 2010. Lei said there are 70 million Xiaomi users at the moment, and if current growth patterns remain true, that number will become 200 million next year. Ambitiously, he said the opportunity was there for momentum to carry the firm to the world’s number one spot, overtaking Samsung and Apple. He estimated it could happen in five to ten years time.