When the people want it, they really want it. And in this case, “it” is the Xiaomi Redmi 4, and the people are consumers in India. According to the Chinese tech company, it managed to sell over a quarter of a million of these smartphones in just 10 minutes, calling it the “biggest smartphone sale in the history” of India. The handset was made available on January 23 by way of Flipkart and Xiaomi’s own website, Mi.com.
It’s an impressive feat, to be sure. While India is one of the fastest growing and important emerging market for smartphones and similar technologies, brands have found it difficult to establish a firm foothold in the country. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for Xiaomi. The Redmi Note 4, which launched for just under $150, has already outdone its older sibling, the Redmi Note 3.
Whereas the Note 3 was previously the best-selling smartphone in India (it sold 3.6 million units last year), it looks as though its successor is poised to do even better.
Of course, the Note 4 is objectively speaking a better phone than its predecessor. After all, it comes with improved camera sensors, battery life, display, and sound quality. And it also comes in three variants with different storage capabilities — the cheapest version has 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, while the midrange unit boasts 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage for $165. The most expensive phone is just $190, and has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 625 SoC powers all three models.
While Xiaomi has only been in India for two and a half years, it seems that it’s well on its way to becoming the most popular brand in the nation. Earlier in January, the Chinese company announced that it had exceeded $1 billion in annual revenue in India for 2016. If that’s not progress, we don’t know what is.
