Huawei’s smartphone shipments in Q3 increased 26 per cent to 16.8 million units from the same period last year, with output of higher margin models doubling.

The company said about a quarter of total shipments during the last quarter were mid-range to high-end models.

A Huawei representative told Mobile World Live that although sales in China still outnumber those exported, the ratio is narrowing and now is close to 50:50. The Huawei spokesperson said it expects “significant growth” in Q4, with the P7 and Mate 7 models driving growth.

Meanwhile rival Xiaomi reportedly shipped 20 per cent more smartphones in the quarter, according to a Weibo post by the company’s CEO Lei Jun.

Analyst firms gave Huawei somewhere between a 6-7 per cent share of global shipments in Q2 while Xiaomi had a 5.1 per cent share. According to Strategy Analytics, Huawei shipped 20.1 million units in Q2 compared to Xiaomi’s 15.1 million.

In Q2 Xiaomi became the top smartphone brand in China with a 14 per cent domestic share.