Chinese company Xiaomi Inc., the third largest smartphone maker in the world, is expected to launch a new smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 5, by the third quarter of this year, according to rumors.

A recent report by Digital Trends suggested that the new Xiaomi Mi 5 handset will see a November 2015 release, while other reports say it might come out early than that, possibly by October.

The new Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone is part of the Chinese company's high-end handsets and is a successor to the Xiaomi Mi 4 device, which was released last August 2014.

The Xiaomi Mi 4 smartphone, according to Know Your Mobile, was commended for its software performance and excellent hardware. The company, dubbed as the "Apple of China", continues to sell more smartphone devices in its homeland than the two tech giants and the world's dominant forces, Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc.

The new Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone is expected to come with 4 GB worth of RAM and up to 64 GB internal memory storage. The handset might be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 820 and might run on the Android 5.1 Lollipop operating system.

The phone is expected to come with a powerful 16 mega pixel rear camera and an 8 mega pixel front-facing camera. It will sport a 5.5 inch IPS LCD display screen with a 1440 x 2560 resolution. The primary camera is also expected to come with optical image stabilization and autofocus features.

It's unclear what battery the Chinese giant plans to use for this new phone, but a rumor says expect a non-removable battery that will offer users 60 per cent battery charge in just 30 minutes.

Another Chinese giant, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd, recently released its P8 lite smartphone in the U.S. Huawei is reportedly planning to expand its smartphone business into the U.S. market.