The Xiaomi Mi3 went on sale, for the fifth time, on Flipkart today and as usual, was sold out in a flash. The device today was sold out in 2.3 seconds, 0.1 seconds less than last time. Now, every Xiaomi flash sale is followed by two things — ecstatic (relieved more often) customers tweeting and posting about their successful purchase and distraught (irritated and frustrated usually) customers throwing the choicest of abuses and exclamation mark ridden messages at Xiaomi.
Of course there is the now quite famous comparison between buying a Xiaomi Mi3 and booking a Tatkal ticket on IRCTC. But the comparisons don’t end there. Here’s a tweet that compares the Mi3 sale cycle to its 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 800’s cycle time.
Wonder what is longer. The cycle time of the #Mi3 2.3GHz processor, or the time it was available for sale on flipkart.
— Aatif Sumar (@aatifsumar) August 5, 2014
Without drawing pleasure from another’s misfortune, you can almost feel the pain in this tweet.
'Sale starts at 00.00.00' & 'Out Of Stock' – I Never had a chance to see 'Add to Cart' button @Flipkart #IGiveUp #mi3onflipkart
— Yuvaraj Rajendran (@rajdyuva) August 19, 2014
Yet another comparison.
Well we boys fall in love with a girl in seconds….xiaomiMi3 sale is more faster..Failed 2nd time. #Mi3onFlipkart @Flipkart
— Vibhaw kumar (@Vibhaw_kumar) August 12, 2014
Where there's pain, there's also joy though. Not many things evoke such reactions, let alone a smartphone.
I don't usually dance, but if I do it's when I see this 😀 #Mi3onFlipkart #win pic.twitter.com/ggbr5BZ21P
— Evans Kurapaty (@evansk3) August 12, 2014
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! @lucidillusions_ #Mi3onFlipkart
— Mall. (@Woemaniya) August 12, 2014
If you were wondering what the mood is like when a sale for this smartphone starts then the music in this video should give you a very good idea.
The reactions from those who couldn’t buy it are also many, but here’s one really unique pick.
Meanwhile, we would advise Xiaomi executives to avoid coming out in public in India as some have put some really ominous posts as well. We are not going to put those here because of the colourful language that has been used, but as no one wants any bloodshed over an illusive phone, let’s just say, you have been warned.
Like anything that becomes a craze nowadays, Xiaomi, which maintains that it is a startup, has given rise to another in India. There’s an extension for Google Chrome, called BuyHatke, which promised to give users an edge in buying the Mi3. Little did it know though that Flipkart would 'make some change at the last moment', leading it fail all those who had found a ray of hope with the plugin. Don’t worry though, ButHatke is giving ‘everyone who was inconvenienced’ a Rs. 50 recharge. We suspect that’s not going to be enough to satisfy a disappointed prospective Mi3 buyer.
We extremely apologize for the inconvenience everyone faced. We could not live up to our words. In return, (cont) http://t.co/ys0EHNpBfQ
— BuyHatke (@BuyHatke) August 19, 2014
Company VP Hugo Barra had said that Xiaomi would be increasing its numbers, but here's the thing, it will always follow the flash sale method. It puts up 1,00,000 units for sale on China and still gets such reactions. In a post once made by Xiaomi on its forums overseas, the company had told users to tell their friends about its next sale date. To this, a member of the community asked the inevitable question — why should they? — because that would mean one more buyer that they have to compete against. The strategy is working for now. Yes, Xiaomi has sold only 75,000 units in about a month, but its community is growing, which is what the company wants before bringing in bigger shipments and stocks.
The Chinese upstart has evoked a lot of reactions from different corners, in India and elsewhere. Some of these are colourful, some witty, some frustrated, some happy, some ecstatic and some severely disappointed, but none of those makes its smartphone(s) any less elusive than it is and neither will they. With the Redmi 1S and Redmi Note both making their entry in a few weeks and the Mi4 around December, users will have more to tweet about. Whether you buy the phones or not, it makes for a very interesting read.