Xiaomi, China’s largest local smartphone maker, has opened its first own brand retail store in China’s capital city, Beijing.

The company, which made and sold more than 60 million handsets last year, is still plotting to increase its domestic market share, despite already outselling Apple and Samsung. It sees standalone stores like the one which opened in Hong Kong earlier this year (pictured above) as a means of building the reputation of the brand by allowing prospective customers to try handsets and experience the Xiaomi experience in a lounge like environment. It’s a formula based on the successful Apple store concept now legendary in global retailing.

The new store, in the Beijing Modern Plaza shopping centre, is the first store in China to sell the handsets directly.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi appears to be readying itself to launch in the heartland of its chief rival Samsung.

Korean media are reporting the Chinese company has appointed local legal counsel and recently held a launch function for its MIUI Android-based operating system downloadable from Google Play.