It was another lottery in India for the sale of Xiaomi’s Redmi 1S, just like it had been for the Mi 3 earlier. Well over 200,000 Mi fans queued up for 40,000 units of Redmi 1S, which sold out in 4.2 seconds. Just a week ago, Xiaomi had sold 20,000 Mi 3 phones in two seconds.
While the lucky ones who managed to place an order for Redmi 1S are rejoicing, the usual whining and resentful grumbling is going on at the same time on social media. Mi India is patiently replying to some of the irate fans.
Xiaomi takes feedback from fans seriously. At a recent informal meetup it held in Bangalore, bloggers and Mi fans told Xiaomi vice president Hugo Barra and country head Manu Jain that Indian consumers tend to fret about touchscreen protection. They were also curious about why Xiaomi used mini SIMs instead of the more common micro SIMs. Barra clarified that Xiaomi has adapters for those who have micro SIMs. Interestingly, a few days ago, Xiaomi threw in a screen protector and SIM card adapter for free with the Redmi 1S.
The feedback on unmet demand will be harder to satisfy, however.
Though there are multiple players jostling for attention in the crowded budget smartphone market in India, the fact is that there is no other phone-maker that offers value for money like Xiaomi does. And as far as India is concerned, there is no doubt that Xiaomi has captured the imagination like no other phone in the market.
Consumers keep clamoring for it even after seeing each sale flash by like a lottery, with the number of takers being more than 10 times the number of phones on offer. But it is unlikely that Xiaomi will be able to ramp up the volumes any time soon as its business model demands a slow entry in new markets.
For it, the phone is a mere carrier, which it wants to sell at cost price or even less – the revenue will come later from the ecommerce enabled by the device.
See: Why Xiaomi faces a catch-22 situation in India, and what it is doing about it
So Indians are going to have to get used to the love-hate tango until Xiaomi’s revenue streams around the phone pick up. Last week, Xiaomi sold 10,000 power banks in one shot – and ran out of those too. Phone accessories are just one small part of the jigsaw puzzle that the Xiaomi model often appears to be.
Some consumers may feel frustrated by this in the short term but for most phone buyers, the entry of Xiaomi augers happy times. Motorola was forced to cut down its prices. Samsung launched three budget phones. And every other phone-maker will now have to do a double-take on selling gadgets with similar specs to that of Xiaomi.
This is an exciting story which we will be tracking every step of the way.
The post In India, 4-second Redmi sellout shows again Xiaomi is too popular for its own comfort appeared first on Tech in Asia.
In India, 4-second Redmi sellout shows again Xiaomi is too popular for its own comfort
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