Smartphone maker Xiaomi said it had shipped more than 70 million handsets in 2015, undershooting its own target and casting doubts about the growth prospects of China's most valuable tech startup in a cut-throat market.
Xiaomi had estimated total annual sales of 80-100 million.
But in July it reported half year sales that for the first time were lower than the previous six months, with analysts saying its main domestic market was rapidly becoming saturated.
A spokeswoman for the company once pipped as Apple's biggest rival in China declined to say why sales had missed the target.
She added that the 70 million figure "puts us as the top smartphone manufacturer in China in terms of market share for the year of 2015".
Xiaomi, however, is facing stiff competition from more established firms such as Lenovo and Huawei Technologies at home and its plans to expand abroad in emerging markets such as India and Brazil have hit intellectual property hurdles.
xecutives have also acknowledged that the five-year old startup's thin portfolio is a major weakness, and the company has avoided entering markets with strong IP law enforcement. The company has put its market value at $45 billion.
Xiaomi's annual sales growth for the year was now 14.5%, analyts said, still above the average overall annual market growth rate of 12%.
They forecast 2016 growth at 16%, based on expectations that Xiaomi will start sales in the US, Latin America and eastern Europe.
Xiaomi was the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker by shipments in the third quarter, market researchers IDC said, behind Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei and Lenovo.
A year earlier, the company was in third place.
