China's low-priced smartphone manufacturers could face more fierce competition as demand booms and the cost of chips continues to decline.
When Xiaomi released its youth version smartphone at 1,499 yuan, Qihoo 360 announced a similar smartphone model at the same price.
One-third of Chinese urban dwellers own a smartphone, and 67 percent of them surf the Web with the device every day, according to a survey.
Telecom manufacturers, Internet companies have all jumped on the smartphone bandwagon.
Smartphone shipments in China are expected to outpace those of feature phones in the country by next year, according to research firm International Data Corporation.
Apple Inc asked a US appeals court to block sales of some products made by Samsung Electronics Co that it contends "slavishly copy" the two devices.
Foxconn, the largest supplier of Apple Inc, said on Friday that it will remedy its workplace abuses after a US labor auditor commissioned by Apple inspected Foxconn's three plants in China.
US media reported on Thursday that top-level executives at Apple and Samsung have met lately about a potential patent settlement.
Apple Inc won a patent-infringement ruling that bans some HTC Corp smartphones from US starting next year.
China has overtaken the US for the first time to become the world's largest smartphone market.
HTC Corp filed a complaint at the US International Trade Commission that seeks to block imports of Apple Inc's iPhone, iPad and Mac computers.