Despite missed sales target, Xiaomi was still at top in China last year

Despite falling short of its 2015 sales target, Xiaomi was still the top smartphone manufacturer in China for the year, according to a new Wall Street Journal report which cited "early figures" from market research firms Canalys and Strategy Analytics.

According to Canalys, Xiaomi claimed 15.2% of the market in China. Huawei came in second with 14.7%, while Apple was third with 12.5% share.

The report cited Chinese analysts as saying that brisk sales of the company's Redmi Note 3 smartphone - which they said comes with "competitive pricing and trendy features" - along with the end-of-year sales season were some of the main reasons that helped Xiaomi claim the spot.

They also predicted that in 2016, Xiaomi will have to face a tough fight from competitors like Huawei, which shipped over 100 million smartphones in 2015 - Xiaomi, for comparison, shipped only 70 million.

For those who aren't already aware, Xiaomi's next flagship smartphone - the Mi 5 - will be unveiled on February 24.

Via