Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi Corp. said on July 16 that it sold 7.03 million mobile phones in the first half of this year and realized unaudited revenue of 13.3 billion yuan ($2.16 billion).

Xiaomi's half-year revenue in 2013 exceeded the company's 12.6 billion yuan in 2012 annual revenue.

The company is on track to reach its annual goal of selling 15 million Xiaomi smartphones by the end of the year, said the company.

As of June, Xiaomi had more than 14 million smartphone users on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Lei Jun, founder and CEO of Xiaomi, attributed the good performance to the company's branding, better industry support and improved logistics.

Founded in 2010, Xiaomi has experienced rapid growth. The company launched its first smartphone in August 2011 and quickly gained substantial market share, beating some traditional mobile phone giants.

Xiaomi is now directly challenging Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and Apple Inc. in the Chinese market. Apple sold 7 million iPhones in China in the first quarter of 2013.