SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Xiaomi has emerged from obscurity over the past few years to overtake Samsung as the most dominant smartphone vendor in China.

Now, the Beijing-based tech giant, which makes mobile phones and other tech gadgetry, has set its sights on India.

IDC

Despite India’s 1.25-billion strong population and a vibrant middle class, the country’s penetration rate for smartphones is relatively low. That offers a potentially big upside for devices to be sold, according to Ryan Reith, research director of mobile devices at IDC.

Xiaomi has been very aggressive, and vocal about expanding in India, in part due to its allure as a consumer market and source of talent, Hugo Barra, the head of Xiaomi’s India unit, told Quartz in an interview.

“India today has the same number of Internet users as China had, say, in 2007-08,” he said. “If you compare what the internet and startup scene was in China seven or eight years ago, it doesn’t even begin to compare with how thriving it is in India right now.”

Still, the upstart electronic company faces stiff competition from Indian smartphone makers and there are complex government regulations on manufacturing that it will have to be overcome.

“There are a few really strong Indian smartphone manufacturers who realize the potential of the market and will do whatever they can to make sure that Xiaomi doesn’t capitalize on that opportunity,” Reith said.

Fortunate for Xiaomi, it has a low marketing overhead and its momentum is picking up, Reith added.

“It has scored some early success in India, with 40,000 Redmi sold out in 4 seconds on Flipkart (Xiaomi’s local e-commerce partner),” said J.P. Morgan analyst Alvin Kwock.

Whether Xiaomi will reprise its meteoric rise overseas remains to be seen, but it is expected to be a relevant player, if not a dominant one, in Asia’s third largest economy within a short period, according to Reith.