After snatching sleep from the eyes of many a prospective buyer of the Mi 3, Xiaomi is now suspending sales of the device in India for an indefinite period.
The device was announced on the 8th of July, and first went on sale on the 22nd the same month. Xiaomi held flash sales one day every week since then, which meant there were a total of six such flash sales until today. According to reports, Xiaomi sold a staggering 100,000 units of the device in this period, resulting in some hyped anticipation and continual demand.
Gizchina News of the week
Xiaomi Mi 3 specifications
- 5-inch 1920 x 1080p display
- 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 SoC
- 2GB RAM
- 16GB/64GB non-expandable ROM
- 13 mega-pixel rear camera
- 2 mega-pixel front camera
- 3050mAh battery
- MIUI V5 based on Android v4.4
From what Hugo Barra has been saying on interviews, Mi 3 sales are being paused for Xiaomi want to focus on providing a more fluid experience for buyers of the forthcoming Redmi 1S. Xiaomi could really do with that, since the huge divide between demand and supply has resulted in some badmouthing.
SEE: Xiaomi Mi 3 Review!
For those who aren’t aware, Xiaomi will be shipping the Redmi 1S in India starting 2nd September, for a (introductory?) price of 5,999 INR or $99.
Nothing staggering in selling 100.000 phones in a month…
It’s commendable for a brand that just landed the very month it sold those phones, I think.
It’s not commendable because they could’ve sold *a lot* more. Flipkart was doing all the heavy lifting, all Xiaomi had to do was deliver the phones to them. No other mobile manufacturers (except Oneplus) are plagued with these production shortages and limited availability like Xiaomi is. Remember the Mi3 has already been out in China for almost a full year now, you’d think they would’ve figured out how to mass produce it by now. Xiaomi is their own worst enemy. If they don’t get their sh*t together soon someone else is going to sweep in and steal their non proprietary “low price niche” thunder. I hate Micromax with a passion but I bet they’re working on a cheap Snapdragon 800 device as we speak.
They don’t need to sell a lot more. That’s just how they function.
Sure as long as they remain a private company they can do whatever they want. A public company would never get away with this.
100,000 units sold in the worlds second most populated country = not a big deal.
Are you one of those people that did not manage to get an Mi3 and moaning about Xiaomi online?
Couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve been in China longer than Xiaomi themselves. The moaners you’re talking about are all crying about how Flipkart handled the sale.
Trust me, the evil side of me is happy they ceased sales of the Mi3 in India because hopefully now related forums will see less idiots posting how their screen goes off during calls because they’re too cheap to remove the factory screen guard covering the proximity sensor. You know, the screen guard that evens says “remove before use” on it. *Rolls eyes + facepalm*
Thousand up votes to this.
Xda is full of them “hello when is custom ROM for phone I cannot use search as I’m retarded”
They certainly could’ve sold many more units, but that doesn’t mean what they did in just one month wasn’t impressive. I still think they sold it at a loss just to make sure they get the momentum in a new market and that seems to have worked.
The Mi3 was priced so low in India to get the brand attention in India, even the Redmi 1s and Note are priced very well. I think Xiaomi intend to sell a certain number of present gen devices in India at low prices to garner support for the brand and then make profit from the next generation of devices like Mi4.