The CEO of the second-most valuable startup in the world is backing off his company's sales goals

Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi, the second-most valuable private tech company in the world, set a big goal for itself this year: Sell 100 million phones.

Then in March CEO Lei Jun scaled back that goal to 80 million phones sold. Xiaomi announced in July that it had sold 34.7 million smartphones in the first half of 2015.

But now, Jun says, hitting the 80 million sales goal this year is no longer a top priority.

"This target is not the No. 1 priority for us. What we care about the most is the rate of customer satisfaction," Jun said at the World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, China, according to the Wall Street Journal. Jun added that he was "constantly pushed by everyone" to give the 80 million forecast for 2015.

It's looking like the hype surrounding the company is dying down. According to TechInAsia, Canalys, a research firm, says Xiaomi's Q3 sales in 2015 dropped year on year for the first time.

By comparison, five-year-old Xiaomi sold and shipped 60 million phones last year, beating its projection of 40 million. Xiaomi sells low-cost, high-quality phones, which sell for between $100 and $300. Meanwhile, iPhones sell for between $650 and $1,000. According to data published in August, Xiaomi was China's top smartphone company in China in Q2 2015.

China's smartphone market is also saturated with competing brands like Huawei and OnePlus.

Additionally, Xiaomi hasn't completely expanded globally yet - its markets include China, India, Brazil, and some emerging markets, with plans to launch in the US in "a few years."

Known as the "Apple of China" for its popularity in the country, Xiaomi has been criticized for its similarities to the American tech giant. Apple design chief Jony Ive once called Xiaomi's designs "theft." Xiaomi denies the claim.

In the past five years, Xiaomi has come out of nowhere to become not only one of China's biggest smartphone manufacturers but also one of the most valuable startups in the world with a $46 billion valuation.

Xiaomi is known for selling its cheap but high-quality Android devices in developing countries. It also makes a number of other products, including fitness trackers.