Xiaomi has reportedly stocked huge number of Redmi 1S units for the upcoming flash sale on 2 September.
Buoyed by the overwhelming response for the Xiaomi Mi3 sale in India, the company has imported 40,000 units for sale at Flipkart.
And to keep track on the Redmi 1S sale in India, the company has temporarily suspended the sale of the popular smartphone Mi3 in India.
Earlier on Monday, Flipkart offered Early Access pass for select First service subscribers. Only 2,000 units were put on for sale and the remaining 38,000 units have been set aside for 2 September flash sale. [Read full report, here]
More than 1,00,000 prospective consumers have already registered themselves at Flipkart for Redmi 1S flash sale and the number is swelling as we speak. [Interested consumers, click here]
Last week on 26 August, Xiaomi flash sale witnessed Flipkart running out of Mi3 stocks in just 2.4 seconds. The registration window for the next Tuesday's (2 September) flash sale was supposed to open later that evening at 6pm, but never got operational.
Speculations started to twirl in the media that Xiaomi was just clearing old Mi3 stocks in China by dumping it India, but country's head of operation, Xiaomi, Manu Jain categorically dismissed the rumours.
In a reply to NDTV, Jain clarified that Xiaomi Mi3 sale in India is not discontinued and the company just wants to shift focus on Redmi 1S for the next few weeks. However, despite persistent questioning, he did not oblige to divulge details as to when Xiaomi Mi3 will be re-launched in India.
For the uninitiated, Xiaomi feature-rich Redmi 1S costs just ₹5,999; its Redmi 1S flaunts a 4.7-inch IPS LCD screen with 720x1280p resolution, making it the cheapest HD phone in the Indian market.
It is ₹1,000 lesser than the popular Motorola Moto E, which costs ₹6,999.
Inside, it ships with the Android v4.3 Jelly Bean OS (with custom MIUI), 1.6GHz Snapdragon CPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB inbuilt memory (expandable up to 32GB) and a 2,000 mAh battery.
Going by the Redmi 1S' specification and dirt cheap price-tag, Xiaomi phone is all but certain to create price-war between domestic and MNC brands in the entry-level segment just as its sibling Xiaomi Mi3 did in the mid-range sector.
Key specifications of Xiaomi Mi3, Redmi 1S:
| Models | Xiaomi Mi3 | Xiaomi Redmi 1S |
| Display | 5.0-inch full HD(1920x1080p) IPS LCD screenPixel density: 441 ppi | 4.7-inch HD (1280x720p) IPS LCD screen with Gorilla Glass 2 shieldPixel density: close to 312 ppi (pixels per inch) |
| OS | Android v4.3 Jelly Bean with custom MIUI | Android v4.3 Jelly Bean with custom MIUI |
| Processor | 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series quad-core CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 series quad-core CPU with 1.6GHz CPU speed |
| GPU | Adreno 330 | Adreno 305 |
| RAM | 2GB | 1GB |
| Storage capacity | 16GB/64GB | 8GB, expandable up to 64GB |
| Camera | Main: 13.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus, dual-LED flash, HDRFront: 2.0-megapixel camera (with full HD video recording ability) | Main: 8.0-megapixel camera with auto-focus, LED flash, HDR,Front: 1.3-megapixel camera |
| Battery | 3,050 mAh; (non-removable) | 2000 mAh (Li-Polymer); |
| Network | 3G | 2G & 3G |
| Add-ons | Mini-SIM, Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac), micro-USB v2.0, A-GPS, GLONASS | Dual-SIM slots, Bluetooth v4.0 (with LE, A2DP), micro-USB v2.0, GPRS/EDGE, microSD card slot, |
| Dimensions | 144.0 x 73.6 x 8.1 mm | 137.0 x 69.0 x 9.9 mm |
| Weight | 146 g | 158 g |
| Price | ₹13,999/- | ₹5,999/- |
[Image credit: Xiaomi India]
