(Telecompaper) Xiaomi announced that it shipped four times as many smartphones in the first half of this year than the year-earlier period. The Chinese company shipped 26 million smartphones, versus 7.03 million in the first six months of 2013. Xiaomi shipped 18.7 million units in all of 2013. Sales in the first half of this year more than doubled to CNY 33 billion from CNY 13.3 billion a year ago, Xiaomi said. The company in April set a target to boost phone shipments to 100 million units in 2015, driven by expansion to new markets outside China.