Huawei today said that smartphone shipments had risen 63 percent annually to 34.27 million smartphones in the first six months of 2014 ending June 30. 

In a statement, Huawei said the growth reflected the success of several flagship premium smartphones such as the Huawei Mate 2 4G and Ascend P7. 

According to a report from Reuters, Huawei is targeting sales of 80 million smartphones for the year. 

Shao Yang, vice president of marketing in Huawei’s consumer business group, said that his company had seen faster than expected growth in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. He attributed the rapid growth to improved branding awareness and stronger sales channels in overseas market. 

Huawei is up against stiff competition in China from Apple, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE. 

According to numbers from International Data Coporation, Huawei currently controls a 4.7 percent share of the global smartphone market, behind Samung and Apple, which control 30.8 percent and 15.2 percent respectively.