Huawei Technologies Co Ltd's Honor brand has sold 20 million smartphones in the first half of 2015 and by should reach its goal of 40 million shipments by the year end, double the 2014 figure.

Honor's sales amounted to $2.6 billion of revenue during the first half of the year, Honor President George Zhao said at the launch of the Honor 7 phone in Beijing.

Huawei, the world's No. 4 handset maker, has invested heavily in the past two years to establish Honor as a stand-alone brand to compete against Beijing-based Xiaomi Inc to win over young, fashion-conscious customers.

Zhao said that he expected 15 percent, or 6 million, of the unit's total sales this year to come from overseas, with the majority coming from China.

Huawei, which also sells smartphones marketed to business users under its own brand, is expected to announce in the coming weeks that its China sales are on track to double this year. The company is targeting total smartphone sales of 100 million in 2015.

The Shenzhen-based company's optimism contrasts with the industry view that smartphone sales in China will contract as the market reaches saturation and firms seek profits elsewhere.

For its part, Xiaomi is set to hold a press event in Sao Paolo later on Tuesday to launch its products in Brazil, the latest market the company has in its sights after recently entering India.

Xiaomi's chief executive Lei Jun has stated a sales target of between 80 million to 100 million phones for 2015.