Xiaomi launches $325 Mi4 in smartphone-hungry India

This is something smartphone-hungry India has been waiting for. Ever since disruptive startup Xiaomi from China entered India in July last year with its Mi 3, Indian smartphone enthusiasts have felt like poor cousins to their Chinese counterparts. After all, the Mi 4 had been introduced in China just a week after the launch of Mi 3 in India. But now, the wait is over – the Xiaomi Mi 4 launched today in India.

The flagship phone packed with top-of-the-line specs is priced at INR 19,999 (US$325). In a value-for-money market like India, Xiaomi is dangling the perfect carrot before consumers with the Mi 4. Check out its specs:

• Snapdragon 801 2.5GHz
• Adreno 330 GPU
• 3GB LPDDR3 RAM
• 16GB eMMC 5.0 Flash
• 5″ IPS Full HD 441 PPI
• Gorilla Glass OGS
• 13MP f1.8 rear
• 8MP f1.8 front 80° wide camera
• 3080mAh lithium-ion battery, Quick Charge 2.0
• MIUI 6

So far, Xiaomi has had a dream run in India. Thousands of fans registered in advance for its flash sales on Indian ecommerce site Flipkart. The first batch of Mi 3 phones in India sold out in 38 minutes, the second batch lasted merely 5 seconds, and that cycle has repeated in subsequent Xiaomi flash sales.

It sold 1 million smartphones in five months in India.

The enviable demand for its phones – Mi 3, Redmi 1S, and Redmi Note – was much higher than the makers expected, and that put Xiaomi in an unusual predicament in India. Many of the Xiaomi fans, who returned empty-handed after the flash sales, quickly became disgruntled as batches after batches sold out in seconds.

But now, fans have a new reason to cheer Xiaomi as the Mi 4 launch puts India on par with China. As a prelude to the Mi 4 announcement, Xiaomi recently closed Mi 3 sales in India.

Xiaomi has constantly maintained that India is its most important market outside China, and this new launch is an important step in consolidating the foothold it has got in India.

See: Xiaomi Mi4 is a bombshell in the $300 smartphone war (REVIEW)