The fastest growing mobile handset brand in India, Xiaomi, said it sold 2.5 lakh units of its entry-level phone Redmi 4 in its inaugural flash sale today.
The numbers indicate that the company may have yet another big hit on its hands after the enormously successful Note 4 — which is also the fastest selling phone in India this year.
Generally, single handset models do not rack up high sales numbers due to the emergence of several new mobile brands in the country.
However, unlike other brands like Oppo, Vivo and Samsung, Xiaomi does not come up with several models in a year, but brings out only three models — one for the entry-level market, one for the mid-range market and one for the higher-end segment.
Out of these, it has had almost equal success in both the entry-level market — to which Redmi 4 belongs — and in the mid-range segment — which is currently dominated by Redmi Note 4.
In fact, the Note 4 is so successful that it is estimated that over half of the people who buy a phone in the Rs 10,000-15,000 price range buys a Note 4.
However, the Chinese brand does not have anywhere near as close a market share in the entry-level segment, where Indian brands such as Intex are still strong.
Part of the reason for the success of the Note 4 has been that it is almost a complete package, and comes with nearly all the expected specifications of a mid-range phone, plus a 14 nanometer chipset that keeps the phone from overheating.
The closest competitor is the Honor 8 Lite, which is available on eBay at a special discounted price of Rs 14,639 for the 4GB version.
That is still more expensive than the comparable Note 4 variant that costs Rs 13,999.
Unlike the Note 4, however, the Redmi 4 comes with a 28 nm chipset, though it does throw in a 4 Ah battery — perhaps the biggest in the budget phone market, and more updated 4G capabilities.
Still it remains to be seen how much success the device — priced at Rs 7,000 — will garner, given that it has only 2 GB of memory and 16 GB of storage space.