Guess Who Just Sold 2 Million Phones In 12 Hours? (Hint: It's Not Apple Inc. or Samsung)
Xiaomi , the top smartphone maker in China, recently sold 2.12 million smartphones during a 12 hour "Mi Fan Festival" flash sale to celebrate the company's fifth anniversary.
Xiaomi's Redmi 2. Source: Xiaomi.
That sale, which set a Guinness World Record for the most phones on a single "platform" (Mi.com) sold within a day, generated $335 million in smartphone revenues. Apple notably sold 4 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus units with the first 24 hours, but those were sold across multiple "platforms,"including online stores, retail stores, carrier stores, and third-party locations. During the flash sale, Xiaomi also sold 38,000 Mi TVs, 200,000 fitness bands, 247,000 power strips, and 770,000 smart appliances.
The "Apple of China"Xiaomi is often referred to as the "Apple of China," but that nickname isn't quite accurate. Whereas Apple appeals to the high-end market, Xiaomi pursues the low to mid-range markets by selling powerful Android devices at low prices. Xiaomi's Mi Note Pro, for example, offers a comparable display, more RAM, and more storage than Samsung's Note 4 for roughly half the price.
Xiaomi has aggressively expanded beyond smartphones. Source: Xiaomi.
The U.S. is next ...In February, Xiaomi announced that it would launch its online store in the U.S. later this year. Xiaomi won't start selling its smartphones stateside yet, due to inevitable patent issues and their lack of mainstream recognition. Instead, it intends to use it to sell non-smartphone products like headphones, fitness bands, and power banks.
All those devices follow Xiaomi's strategy of selling high quality products at paper-thin margins. Its fitness band costs just $13 in China, while its Yi Action Camera costs just $64. These products could steal market share away from companies like Fitbit and GoPro (NASDAQ: GPRO). If Xiaomi's products start gaining recognition in the U.S. as a low-cost high-quality brand, it could pave the way for its smartphones to eventually take a decent amount of market share.
The article Guess Who Just Sold 2 Million Phones In 12 Hours? (Hint: It's Not Apple Inc. or Samsung) originally appeared on Fool.com.
Leo Sun owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, Google (A shares), Google (C shares), and GoPro. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google (A shares), and Google (C shares). Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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