Hit by a barrage of criticism and negativity from fans, Xiaomi has said it is planning “something special” for its next sale of Redmi Note 3, and that this sale will include the 32 GB version of the phone.
It also added that there will be no need for pre-registration to participate in this sale.
“No registration will be needed for the next Redmi Note 3 sale. Instead we’re gonna have something a little more special,” Xiaomi said. “Redmi Note 3 32GB will be available for the next sale.”
UPDATE — Xiaomi has announced more information about the sale.
FOR DETAILS OF THE MEGA SALE, CLICK HERE
It had a couple of days ago, said the 32 GB version of Redmi Note 3 will be available in India in early April, but had not made any commitment as to when.
Though the date of the next sale has not been announced by Xiaomi, Amazon has announced that it will hold the next flash sale of the model on Apr 6 or next Wednesday.
Xiaomi has removed its registration page for buyer from its website as the next one does not require any registration. Amazon, however, has kept its page open, and also shows only the 16 GB version as available.
This could mean that there would be a flash sale on Amazon and an open sale of 32 GB variant of Redmi Note 3 on Mi.com.
It could also mean that the open sale will not happen on the same day as Amazon’s sale, which is on April 6. No clarity has been achieved on this topic right now.
There is also a possibility of the Mi5 being sold on the same day along with the 32 GB Note.
BAD PRESS
Xiaomi has had a very cordial relationship with the technology press in India, partly due to the endearing personality of Hugo Barra, its head for international business.
It is also very punctual in making its upcoming phones available for review by big technology blogs and websites, unlike some of its competitors.
However, the same cannot be said for its ‘fans’ and customers.
Irritated by repeated delays and a total lack of transparency from the company, they have been bombarding social media with negative comments about the company.
The mega open sale, if it happens, could be a response to the tremendous pressure exerted by people who have been trying to buy a Redmi Note 3 – 32 GB version for the last one month, but with little success.
It is estimated that fewer than 4,000 32 GB units have been sold while demand is for 5 to 8 lakh units. By the end of the first month, LeTV Le 1s — the RN3’s closest competitor — had sold 2 lakh units.
The open sale, if it turns out to be one, will be Redmi’s attempt to address the complaints and boost its sales figures in India.
Xiaomi has a history of showing such big bang gestures. In 2014, faced with tremendous demand for its phones, Xiaomi chartered a plane from China to India stuffed with an estimated 1 lakh Mi3 phones.
It could be chartering yet another plane for its Redmi Note 3 sale next week.
FLASH SALE TROUBLE
Xiaomi is the only phone brand in India that still relies on flash sales. Others like LeEco, Lenovo, Yu and OnePlus conduct open sales or queue-based sales.
Flash sales generate a huge amount of traffic on ecommerce websites like Flipkart and Amazon within a couple of minutes. This often leads to server crashes, both at the ecommerce company as well as on bank and card payment gateways.
Because of this, Flipkart and Amazon now allow people to ‘buy’ their phone with a single click at the time of the flash sale and then follow up with the payment later.
However, this has created another problem — of people ‘buying’ phones without any intention of buying it and driving genuine buyers away.
However, this has not been the problem with Redmi Note 3 as the quantity has been very modest — a drop in the ocean of demand.
But if Xiaomi is now getting serious about selling the model in India and ships in 1 lakh units for the next sale, it will have to take precautions to ensure that non-genuine buyers are kept at bay, and the ‘open sale’ could be a way to achieve that.
Lenovo has had great success with the open sale model for its K5 Plus handset, which sold 45,000 units on day 1 without crashing Flipkart’s servers despite it being an open sale.
FOR DETAILS OF XIAOMI SALE, CLICK HERE
Meanwhile, Reliance Jio will start aggressively selling its LYF branded handsets this week, offering free data to buyers.
According to JioMoney app screenshots, the company will offer 40 GB of starter data to anyone who buys their MiFi device, and also offer 200 GB of ‘network testing’ allowance, possibly free of charge — taking the total to 240 GB.
[socialpoll id=”2347199″]