Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone maker founded four years ago, is trying to raise funds at a valuation higher than any publicly traded personal-computer or mobile-phone maker, including Apple Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd.

Xiaomi is in talks for a funding round that would value the Beijing-based company at $40 billion to $50 billion, people familiar with the matter have said. The talks are at an early stage and nothing is finalized, they said.

That would give Xiaomi a higher valuation as a multiple of sales than competitors including Lenovo and Sony Corp.

It would be a wager that Xiaomi can continue its rapid growth after tripling sales in the most recent quarter to become the third-largest smartphone maker in the world behind Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple.

“If Xiaomi can replicate its success in China in other markets, as well as its success in mobile phones to other product categories, then it may justify the valuation,” said Sandy Shen, a Shanghai-based analyst with Gartner Inc.

Joy Han, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Xiaomi, declined to comment yesterday on the company’s fundraising plans or valuation.

Xiaomi revenue is set to more than double this year to exceed $12 billion, estimates Neil Shah, Mumbai-based research director for devices at Counterpoint Research. A $50 billion valuation would be 4.2 times Shah’s forecast for Xiaomi’s sales this year.

Apple sales are forecast to rise 15 percent to $209.4 billion this year, according to the average of 46 analysts in a Bloomberg survey. That puts Apple’s current market capitalization of $641.6 billion at 3.1 times projected sales.

Lenovo’s price-to-sales ratio is .38, while Sony’s is .30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Samsung, which also is the world’s biggest maker of televisions and memory chips, has a ratio of .70.

“Future expectations weigh quite a lot in the valuation, so it seems the investors are betting on a huge future for Xiaomi,” said Jessica Kwee, a Singapore-based analyst with researcher Canalys.

Investors may be willing to take that chance because of Xiaomi’s track record. Founder and CEO Lei Jun has used a combination of high-end features, low prices and tailored services to win sales in China.

The company overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone vendor in its home market in the second quarter, according to Canalys.

Xiaomi doesn’t make its own devices and relies on contract manufacturers, including FIH Mobile Ltd. and Inventec Corp., to build them. The company also sells directly to consumers from its website to keep costs down. Xiaomi sells its flagship Mi 4 starting from 1,999 yuan ($327) on its China website. That’s about a third of the starting price for Apple’s iPhone 6 in China.

Lei is taking his business model overseas to 10 countries in a push to sell 100 million phones next year. (Bloomberg)