Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi said that it is eyeing a global expansion in ten countries this year.

The company's products are already on sale in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is planning to start selling its Mi3 model in India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Turkey, and the Philippines.

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In China, the Mi3 costs RMB1,999, which is cheaper than Apple's iPhone 5C at RMB4,488. The Chinese phone also features a bigger and sharper screen plus a higher-resolution camera.

Research firm Canalys said Xiaomi is superior to Apple in terms of sales in China. In the last quarter of 2013, the Chinese smartphone firm shipped 7.3 million phones compared to Apple's 7 million.

Xiaomi began selling its products in September 2011. The company is aiming to ship 100 million phones in 2015. To do that, the firm has to tap into the Indian and African markets, where the growth will be coming from, according to analytics firm IDC.

One edge that Xiaomi has over its rivals is its willingness to sell its products at prices that will generate very thin margins.

Ryan Lai of IDC said this causes consumers to expect more high-end phones to be set at lower prices. Xiaomi uses this edge to keep up with its Chinese competitors ZTE and Huawei.

Top international brands Samsung and Apple seem to be the next rivals that Xiaomi is planning to take on. Hugo Barra left Google in 2013 to launch Xiaomi internationally. He said that the Chinese firm will use the same pricing strategy when it launches its products in foreign markets.

Although Xiaomi is a tough competitor, it also has a weakness. One reason for its global expansion is the need to get out from its home country. Its space for growth seems to be limited already. After experiencing nine consecutive quarters of growth, its smartphone shipments in China have begun decreasing.

In 2013's last quarter, manufacturers were able to ship 90.8 million smartphone. This is already a 4.3% decrease from the previous quarter's 94.8 million. The country's shift from 3G to 4G is seen as one of the reasons for this decline. Another reason cited by IDC is the increasing popularity of phablets that has reduced the subsidies for smaller phones.