Xiaomi, a fast-growing device manufacturer, is the most complained about mobile-phone brand in China, according to China News Service.

Citing a report published by a Chinese product control foundation, the state-run news service – as reported by wantchinatimes.com – said Xiaomi was complained about 993 times.

Apple and Samsung were not too far behind, notching up 805 and 621 complaints respectively.

However, Samsung has a much bigger market share than Xiaomi. According to Q4 2013 figures from IDC, Samsung accounted for 19 per cent of smartphones shipped in China compared with Xiaomi’s 6 per cent. Apple had a 7 per cent share.

According to the foundation, Xiaomi’s after-sales service was a focus of complaints. Many customers said they were unable to get their money back after buying counterfeit products and that privacy rights were compromised while downloading apps from third party stores (which, they later found, were closed).

Product quality was another major cause of complaint against the Chinese firm

The foundation said it received 6,497 mobile phone-related complaints in 2013 – a relatively small number given the size of the market – but it was a 60 per cent increase from the previous year.

Other mobile phone brands receiving complaints included Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei, ZTE, HTC, Nokia, Lenovo and Motorola.

Lei Jun, chairman and co-founder Xiaomi, previously predicted that the privately-held firm would sell 40 million handsets in 2014, more than double the amount last year.

Xiaomi sold 18.7 million smartphones in 2013, a 160 per cent increase from 2012.