China's fastest growing smartphone vendor Xiaomi is making rapid progress on its home turf. The company's vice-president, Hugo Barra, shared the sales figures for Mi electronics during the largest online shopping day in China -- the Singles' Day, on 11 November (11.11).
Single's Day is similar to the Cyber Monday in the US, and is the biggest revenue generator for vendors and e-commerce giants like Alibaba.
In a Google+ post on Tuesday, Barra noted the timeline of his company's sales, which kicked off on a bright note. The Chinese tech firm reached $16 million (¥100 million) within five minutes of opening the sales on Thursday and broke its record from last year's Singles' Day within four hours, bringing in $90 million (¥550 million)in revenue. Barra also noted that the company sold 7,20,000 Mi phones by midday.
According to a TechCrunch report, the total sales figure includes 250,000 units of flagship Mi4 smartphones, each selling for $300, and 460,000 units of Redmi 1S costing $150, as well as 25,000 Mi TVs. With such impressive sales, the company has made more than $163 million (¥1 billion) in revenue in just 12 hours.
The record sales for Xiaomi in China aren't surprising as the company has received great response with a series of flash sales over the past few months in India. The startup has created sufficient demand for its phones in its home country, dethroning the leader of smartphones, Samsung, from its lead position during Q2 2012. The Chinese smartphone-maker ranked third, rallying behind Samsung (#1) and Apple (#2) in the global smartphone market during Q3 2014, IDC reported last month.
Xiaomi is currently limited to select markets, including seven Asian countries. But the company has planned an expansion to Southeast Asia, Central and Latin America, which will further bolster its position in the competitive smartphone industry.
