Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi continued its domination of the Chinese smartphone market as the company's Red Rice 1S and Rice Note models topped sales charts in the third quarter, according to the latest smartphone sales data.

Xiaomi secured 30.3 percent of the market share in China, the world's largest smartphone market, followed by Samsung with an 18.4-percent share in three months ending September, UK-based market research company Kantar Worldpanel Comtech said on Saturday.

Approximately 16 percent of smartphones sold in China over the past three months had a screen size of 5.5 inches or larger -- a positive indicator that the iPhone 6 Plus is likely to be successful in this market, the report said.

Xiaomi shipped 18 million units of smartphones in the third quarter, an increase of 18 percent from the previous quarter, the company's founder and CEO Lei Jun recently posted on his Sina Weibo microblog.

For the first nine months, Xiaomi, whose name translates into the grain "millet", shipped a total of 44 million units, he said.

Xiaomi Inc. was founded in April of 2010 by Lei and his friends in Zhongguancun, Beijing's technology hub dubbed China's Silicon Valley. Xiaomi's first smartphone debuted on Aug. 16 of 2011.

Earlier on Wednesday, another global market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC) said in a report that Xiaomi jumped into the top 5 manufacturers list for the first time at the number 3 position thanks to its focus on China and adjacent markets, which resulted in triple-digit year-over-year growth.

In the third quarter of this year, Xiaomi's global market share stood at 5.3 percent, following Samsung's 23.8 percent and Apple's 12 percent, according to IDC.

The key to Xiaomi's success, IDC said, was the launch of its Mi4 smartphone in August, which was positioned as a high-end alternative to the status quo.

"What remains to be seen is how quickly the company can move beyond its home territories to drive volumes higher," IDC said in the report. Endi

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