BEIJING - China's smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp on Tuesday sold 150,000 phones in just 12 minutes as it launched the seventh round of online sale, the company said.

Founded by Chinese Internet guru Lei Jun, Xiaomi began with a small team but aimed high -- to make Chinese high-end performing smartphones with affordable prices.

The company's phones, which cost around 2,000 yuan ($317) or less than half the price of an Apple Iphone 4, sold more than 1.65 million units since it entered the market on Oct 20 last year, the company said.

Xiaomi only offers its products by online sales, with limited number of units at a time due to its limited production capacity, it said.

Earlier this year, Xiaomi secured $90 million in a venture capital fund-raising that attracted foreign investors such as IDG Capital, Temasek Holdings and Qualcomm Inc, bringing the total investor financing to $130 million.

It also made Foxconn, the primary Apple product supplier, to be its supplier from January this year.