Xiaomi, the company hailed as the “Apple of China” sold four times more handsets than it has a year ago. The Chinese handset maker sold 26 millions phones during the first half of 2014, almost four times the 7 million it sold the same period last year. The Guardian reports that the company is on track to sell 60 million handsets by Christmas. It’s also expected to launch a new flagship before the end of the year and enter new markets in accordance with its plans to go global.

Xiaomi was established in 2010 and released its first smartphone in 2011. Founder Lei Jun’s image as the “Chinese Steve Jobs” has helped the company attract a cult following among young consumers.

The Chinese company sold 7.2 million handsets in 2012 and 18.7 million in 2013 and in the first half of this year alone has sold 26.11 million handsets. Xiaomi said in the statement that the numbers show that its mobile division “already has a considerable user group.”

The figure of 26 million shipments was 30% more than the company’s Taiwanese rival HTC’s, which has been hailed at one point as the world’s biggest Android smartphone maker, sales for the year 2013. The Guardian reports that HTC has been struggling to find profitability and cut capacity in 2013 to 38.6 million – which effectively reveals that Xiaomi will outsell the company in 2014.

Xiaomi’s increase in sales produced a 150% rise in revenue to 33bn yuan renminbi, approx. $5.5B, which means Xiaomi devices outsold Samsung in China for the second time in April, market research firm Kantar says. The company’s budget friendly Redmi device is the top-selling smartphone in the country. Nearly a quarter of new Xiaomi users previously owned a Samsung handset.

Aside from Samsung, the company also outsells Apple in China. It has also announced plans to expand this year to Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand, Russia, Turkey, Brazil, and Mexico.