Xiaomi Technology reportedly will enhance its competitiveness by adding more mid-tier and high-end models to its portfolio in 2017 as it faces increasing pressure from domestic rivals including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, according to industry sources.

Despite recently releasing two mid-range to high-end models, the Mi Note 2 and Mi Mix, sales of Xiaomi's smartphones have still remained below market expectations so far in the first quarter of 2017, said the sources.

To improve management of its supply chain, Xiaomi is considering allocating new suppliers for some parts and components, said the sources, adding that Xiaomi is likely to buy display panels from Truly Opto-electronics.

As a means to demonstrate its capability and shore up its brand image, Xiaomi also plans to unveil its next-generation Mi 5C smartphone powered by in-house developed Pinecone V670 CPUs in March at the earliest, Digitimes reported earlier.

However, it remains to be seen if Xiaomi's in-house developed CPUs are able to deliver high performance with high reliability which will be essential to boost its brand image and sales, commented the sources.

Huawei shipped 76.2 million units to take the top spot in China's smartphone market in 2016, followed by Oppo with 73.2 million units, Vivo 63.2 million, and Xiaomi 51.4 million, according to Canalys.