Xiaomi, the Chinese mobile maker, has sold 150,000 units of the Mi-3 within 10 minutes with the help of a chat app WeChat. To be exact, it took just 9 minutes 55 seconds to sell 150,000 units of the popular device.
Last month, Xiaomi unveiled Mi-3, and the first batch of 100,000 Mi-3 phones were sold in just 86 seconds. WeChat emerges as an e-commerce platform with a wide user base. The chat app can be used for the reserving the device along with purchasing it. Total users of WeChat, in the third quarter, were 272 million.
Xiaomi more popular than Apple in China
According to a research report, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.(ADR)(LON:BC94) and Xiaomi have outpaced Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in China this year. Consumer research company Kantar Worldpanel conducted a research in which Samsung was the clear winner riding on the back of popularity of its popular Galaxy series of smartphones.
Xiaomi, founded in 2010, is gaining from its latest “budget” smartphone – the Mi-3, starting from 1,999 yuan (HK$ 2,543). The price set by the company for its phone has helped it to pitch the consumers who want “high-spec, low-price phones.” Xiaomi outpaced competitor Lenovo and acquired second spot in the Android segment, in the third quarter.
“Given the growing penetration rate of smartphones and increasingly similar features offered by phones of various brands, further complicated by Xiaomi’s ‘price revolution’, it’s inevitable that consumers are…[beginning] to realize that good user experiences don’t necessarily come with a hefty price tag,” the report said.
Apple losing, Samsung gaining
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) lagged behind Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.(ADR)(LON:BC94) and Xiaomi, witnessing a drop in its market share from 19.5% in the second quarter to 18% in the third. The report noted that the reason might be the launch of iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C on September 20 due to which the users halted the purchase of existing models, and were waiting for the new model.
Samsung Galaxy S3 and S4 models garnered most of market share along with Galaxy Note 2, a popular phablet. All the three devices from Samsung contributed 25% to the profit of Samsung for the third quarter. Samsung sold nearly half of the premium phones in the mainland. Premium phone category includes phones priced at 3,000 yuan at least.
