Chinese tech-company Xiaomi has announced that it will open a new online store for the US market - its called Mi.com.

The company has gained a strong foothold in the rapidly growing Chinese market selling low-price and high-spec smartphones. 

It will sell some of its less well known products in the US, including headphones, and fitness trackers - it hopes to start building brand awareness in the region.

Xiaomi says that there are logistical issues preventing it from fully expanding in the US.

Since Xiaomi came to prominence it has been suggested that the company would be hit with a barrage of patent lawsuits if it tried to sell its phones in most Western markets.

The company's founder and CEO, Lei Jun has predicted that it could overtake Apple in the next "five or ten years."

Apple's head of design, Jony Ive has admitted that he is not a fan of the company - he spoke about Xiaomi in an interview with Vanity Fair:

"When you’re doing something for the first time, you don’t know if it’s going to work. You spend seven or eight years working on something and then it’s copied. I think it is really straightforward. It is theft and it is lazy. I don’t think it is okay at all."

Xiaomi is the world's most valuable privately held company - and third largest smartphone maker in the world.