Xiaomi unveils new flagship smartphone

Xiaomi, one of the most popular smartphone brands in China, launched its flagship model Mi 4 in Beijing on Tuesday.

Looking to take on Samsung and Apple in the premium handset market, the Mi 4 is cheaper and has a faster chip, longer battery life and a metal design.

Xiaomi also debuted its first wearable computing device, Xiaomi Wristband, as it works to establish a complete line of smart devices and software.

Beijing-based Xiaomi expects to sell 60 million smartphones with revenue of 70-80 billion yuan (US$11-13 billion) in 2014, after selling 26.1 million units in the first half, up 271 percent year on year, said Lei Jun, Xiaomi's founder and chief executive.

"Xiaomi's vision is to offer 'innovation every one can enjoy' through affordable and beautiful tech products," Lei said.

The Mi 4, with a 5-inch high-definition screen, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 801 processor and stainless steel casing, costs 1,999 yuan for a 16-gigabyte model and 2,499 yuan for a 64GB model. It will be available in stores next Tuesday for China Unicom users. China Telecom users can buy it in August while it will be available on China Mobile's 4G network in September.

Mi 3 sales have hit 10.5 million units in China since its September debut, about the same as Samsung's Galaxy S5.

In the first quarter, Xiaomi ranked No. 5 in the domestic handset market by sales with an 8.3 percent market share. Samsung holds top spot with 17.8 percent, followed by Lenovo at 11.4 percent, Coolpad at 9.6 percent and Huawei at 8.8 percent, according to Beijing-based Analysys International.