Xiaomi was the most popular local smartphone brand in China, shipping more than 10 million units during the first quarter of 2014, according to Digitimes Research.

Beating off local competition from the likes of Coolpad, Huawei, Lenovo and ZTE, it was only Samsung and Apple – international brands – which managed to surpass Xiaomi’s record volume of smartphone shipments in China during the quarter.

Digitimes Research attributed Xiaomi’s success to “interesting designs, superior pricing and an innovative marketing strategy”.

The research firm added that Xiaomi had “significantly exceeded market expectations” in the lost-cost segment – below CNY1000 ($160) – with its Redmi product.

By focusing smartphone sales through its online platform and making the Redmi device only available certain days of the week, Digitimes Research argued this gave buyers a feeling of exclusivity – despite the relatively low price of the model – and created a “strong marketing buzz”.

Digitimes Research expects Xiaomi to continue with double-digit growth in the second quarter, but warns the quarterly growth rate will be much lower than it was in the previous two quarters.

Recent research from Canalys also highlighted progress made by China’s smartphone players against international competitors in terms of overall sales.

According to the research firm, half of the top 10 smartphone makers in Q1 2014 were Chinese (helped in large part by sales in their enormous domestic market).

Canalys found that Huawei was number three in a global ranking of smartphone suppliers, followed by Lenovo (fourth), Xiaomi (sixth), Yulong (eight) and ZTE (ninth).

Samsung and Apple held the top two spots.