Skip to main content

Xiaomi sets a new Guinness World Record by selling 2.1 million smartphones in 24 hours

Xiaomi Mi 4
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Xiaomi lived up to its proper pronunciation on Wednesday by showing the world how to properly celebrate your birthday. As part of a fan festival to commemorate its fifth birthday, Xiaomi (pronounced “SHOW mee”) ran a 12-hour flash sale that ended up selling more than 2.1 million smartphones via Mi.com, its consumer-facing online store – good for a new Guinness World Record.

“The tech firm’s direct-to-customer website Mi.com store managed to sell an incredible 2,112,010 handsets over the course of its birthday, setting a new record for most mobile phones sold on a single online platform in 24 hours,” according to the Guinness World Records website.

The smartphone sales alone totaled 2.08 billion yuan, or about $335 million. That figure doesn’t include the 770,000 units of smart appliances, 247,000 units of the Mi Power Strip, 208,000 units of the Mi Band, 79,000 units of the Mi Wi-Fi router, and 38,600 units of Mi TVs sold during the event.

Xiaomi shipped 500,000 of the 2.1 million smartphone orders within 12 hours, and its 1,800 customer service representatives answered more than 1 million calls on that momentous day, according to the company’s forum post about its achievement.

While Apple sold 4 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units in the first 24 hours of availability and 10 million units during the opening weekend for both phones, Ars Technica points out that the Guinness World Record is for “most mobile phones sold on a single online platform in 24 hours.” Apple’s gangbusters flurry of initial iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales came via its online store and its physical retail stores, not to mention carrier and third-party locations.

Xiaomi is the No. 5 smartphone maker in the world, according to both IDC and Trendforce. A recent report form Kantar Worldpanel ComTech noted that Apple had replaced Xiaomi as the top smartphone manufacturer in China during the three months ending in February.

While Xiaomi plans on opening up an e-commerce site for the U.S. soon, but its smartphones and tablets won’t be available at launch.

Editors' Recommendations

Jason Hahn
Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…
This iPad just got a rare discount — save $100 at Best Buy
Call of Duty: Mobile on the iPad (2022).

The standard Apple 10.9-inch iPad rarely sees a deep discount but that’s the case over at Best Buy at the moment. Normally priced at $449, you can buy one for just $349 for a limited time. A hefty saving of $100, this is one of the better iPad deals at the moment and worth checking out if you want a new tablet or you’re keen to buy someone a great gift. Here’s what the Apple 10.9-inch iPad has to offer.

Why you should buy the Apple 10.9-inch iPad
The Apple 10.9-inch iPad is a pretty good tablet for anyone who wants something straightforward and useful. It has an attractive 10.9-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone support so it looks great with whatever you’re doing, whether you’re browsing the internet, watching videos, or playing a game. It’s powered by the A14 Bionic chip with a 6-core CPU and 4-core GPU which is why the Apple 10.9-inch iPad easily joins the best iPads list for anyone seeking a great mid-range example. It’s easily capable of playing many games through Apple Arcade as well as being snappy when it comes to looking up YouTube videos and similar.

Read more
The 6 biggest announcements we expect from Google I/O 2024
Google I/O 2019

Google will hold its annual developer conference, Google I/O 2024, on May 14 in Mountain View, California. The event is about a month away, and we're expecting a few big announcements.

As with any Google I/O event, this year's conference will start with a big opening keynote presentation from CEO Sundar Pichai. But what actual announcements are we looking forward to? Here are a few of the biggest things that we are likely to see at Google I/O 2024.
Android 15

Read more
This crazy headband uses music and brainwaves to make you a better athlete
A person wearing the Alphabeats headband.

This company wants you to put on a headband and listen to music while the device's sensors in it read your brainwaves to help you focus and to increase your sporting performance. It’s called Alphabeats, and the electroencephalogram (EEG) headband combines with your choice of music and an app on your phone to help train your brain to either stay in its top-focused state or concentrate on its requirements in the moment, whether that’s relaxation, recovery, or sleep.

Aimed at professional ahtletes or highly motivated amateurs, Alphabeats won a CES 2023 Innovation award and is now available for pre-order. It costs $499 at the moment, but the price will increase to $689 after the promotional period ends. You probably won’t be surprised to learn (given the recent growing and  unfortunate trend) that this price includes a year’s subscription to the service, but at the time of writing, there’s no information about how much the subscription will cost after the first year.

Read more