Xiaomi announces a 70 percent jump in smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2017

Tech major Xiaomi, on Friday, announced that it has shipped 23.16 million smartphones in the second quarter of 2017, a whopping increase of 70 percent from the previous quarter.This comes after a period of continuous investment in technology, integrating sales across the online and offline platforms and increased growth in global markets especially in India, according to a letter issued by Xiaomi founder and CEO Lei Jun to employees.  "This achievement signifies a major inflection point in our growth, after two years of internal recalibration, Xiaomi is once again embarking on a rapid growth trajectory," Jun said at the company's smartphone all-hands meeting on Friday.Xiaomi had set a goal at the beginning of this year to achieve a revenue goal of 100 billion yuan for the year. The founder took this opportunity to announce a new goal he has set for Xiaomi, to sell 100 million smartphones in 2018. "A new chapter for Xiaomi has just begun,and so many possibilities lie ahead of us. Our future is as vast as the constellations and beyond," added Jun in a company statement.Recently, in a strategic move, Chinese tech major Xiaomi and Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia on 5 July signed an agreement for business collaboration and patent licencing where Xiaomi will acquire key patent assets from Nokia.