BANGALORE: The Beijing-based company, Xiaomi became the leading smartphone seller and ranks No. 3 globally, reports Economic Times.

Xiamoi was way ahead than Apple and Samsung Electronics in China smartphone sales just three years after releasing its first model. Founder Lei Jun is now on a buying spree.

The company has participated in more than $600 million of investments in three firms and made an announcement that it bought dozens of startups everything from an air purifier to low-energy light bulbs.

More importantly, the Chinese tech giant just became the most valuable company, the valuation has increased to $12 billion last year,

Founder Lei Jun wants his smartphone to be No.1 in sales and has devoted to spend $1 billion on content as he aims to build a brand bigger than Apple and Samsung in the near future.  

Neil Mawston, executive director of researcher Strategy Analytics, said "Xiaomi is expanding into the smart home and following the lead of Apple, Samsung and others.

He added, "We expect Xiaomi to build an ecosystem of Mi devices and apps for the home, office and car."

Xiaomi has added applications which include data backup, music, photo gallery and themes. It has personalized with an instant-messaging app, cloud services and software to explore restaurants, purchase movie tickets, track packages and make medical appointments.

Lei said in a letter to employees this month, "We have made significant progress, investing in more than 20 hardware companies making smart products," he added, "We believe that this ecosystem we are building will be Xiaomi's most important competitive advantage in our rapid growth ahead."

Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, and Jini Park, a Seoul-based spokeswoman for Samsung, declined to comment on competition with Xiaomi. "Most other Android players are not software companies; they have hardware DNA," said James Roy, a Shanghai-based analyst at China Market Research Group. "Xiaomi seems to be different, and they are investing in it."

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