In first Malaysia flash sale, Xiaomi sells 4,000 Mi3 smartphones in 17 minutes

Xiaomi sold 4,000 units of its flagship Mi3 smartphone in 17 minutes during the company’s inaugural flash sale in Malaysia, according to a Xiaomi spokesperson representing the company in Southeast Asia. It also sold 5,000 portable battery recharge packs, dubbed the Mi Power Bank.

This is Xiaomi’s fifth country/region outside of mainland China, and its biggest market yet outside of the company’s homeland. While 4,000 phones in 17 minutes is nothing to scoff at, the Mi3 units sold markedly slower than in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

• In Hong Kong, Xiaomi sold 10,000 Redmi phones in 36 seconds.
• In Taiwan, Xiaomi sold 10,000 Redmi phones in less than 10 minutes. In the first Mi3 flash sale in Taiwan, 10,000 devices were snapped up in just over three minutes.
• Xiaomi didn’t reveal how many units were sold during its first flash sales in Singapore, but a subsequent sale saw 7,500 Redmi phones sell out in 13 minutes.

See: 4 reasons why Asian tech companies are using flash sales to sell their stuff

Notice that Xiaomi chose to launch in Malaysia with its flagship Mi3 rather than its budget Redmi model – a curious choice considering Malaysia is probably the most price-sensitive market of the bunch. Xiaomi says 6,000 more units will go on sale there next week.

Xiaomi is set to expand into 10 more countries this year.