Beijing-based Xiaomi Technology Co shipped 11 million smartphones in the first quarter of this year and will sell 40 million units for the whole of 2014, Lei Jun, CEO of the company, said on his Weibo account Sunday.

He expects the company to ship 60 million units this year so as to fulfill Chinese consumers' intense demands.

Analysts said that Xiaomi has become a rising star in China's smartphone arena, largely thanks to its "hungry marketing" gimmick as well as Chinese consumers' enthusiasm for low-cost phones with high specifications.

Xiaomi's handsets retail for between 699 yuan ($112.5) and 1,999 yuan, much lower than the 4,088 yuan price tag for the 8GB iPhone 5C model.

According to Lei, the sales of Xiaomi's smartphones hit 18.7 million last year, an increase of 160 percent year-on-year, surpassing the 15 million target set at the beginning of 2013.