Xiaomi Cheating Customers

Xiaomi & Flipkart Cheating Customers

Xiaomi & Flipkart cheating  customers ?

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has taken the Indian smartphone market with a storm. Mi3 has become talk of the town and every phone lover is probably wishing to get one. According to Xiaomi, demand of Mi3 in India is so huge that its stock is finished as soon as it is put up for sale,in a fraction of time. Further,its exclusive sales partner Flipkart has informed that  1 lakh people registered on the website for its first sale, that was on 22^nd July,2014, more than 2.5 Lakh registered for its second sale on July 29 and 1.5 Lakh registered for the third round of sale on 5^th August.  

The company claims that  Mi3 went out of stock in 39 minutes on 22^nd July, in just  5 seconds on 29^th July and in just  2 seconds in the third round today.

Isn’t  this amazing ?

Yes surely it is amazing if the information provided by the Xiaomi and Flipkart is taken as correct. However, it appears that they are not honest in divulging the actual truth and attempting to deceive the customers. They may be playing with emotions of potential buyers to create hype about the product. It may be a very successful marketing strategy but is not justice with the customers and falls in the category of cheating.

Are they really cheating?

• No sale was made on 22^nd July

Xiaomi Mi3 went out of stock in 39 minutes on its first sale on 22^nd July,2014. However, no data was provided by Xiaomi  or Flipkart that how many units were put up for sale. This is surprising and creates suspicion.

This suspicion becomes more strong after studying the Import data of Mi3. Probability is that Not a single unit was sold on 22^nd July. According to the data from Zauba.com no unit of Mi3 was imported on or before 22^nd July. First lot of 10,400 units of Mi3 were imported only on 25^th July that may have went for sale on 29^th July. Second lot of 15000 units was imported on 1^st August,2014 which went on for sale today, 5^th August.

If this data is correct then it is clear that no single unit was sold on 22^nd July and company only gave false information.

•  Data confirms and matches the sale of units on 29^th July and 5^th august

 The import data provided by Zauba clearly confirms the claim of company to sell 15000 units on 5^th August. So this can be concluded that the data is correct and reflects the true picture.

• Flipkart is silent about the product

Every product sold on flipkart is displayed on its website all the time even if it is out of stock. User can check the details of the product and also the buyers can write their experience. It is shocking to see that no detail of Mi3 is available on the flipkart except on the  Mi3  advertisement page. No user reviews are available and no option to review the product or the service is available for Mi3. 

Does it not smells something fishy ? 

Does this not means that Flipkart is also cheating its customers by hiding the information and thus not allowing them to take informative decision.

Watch here how stock just finished in 2 seconds

 How Stock just finished in 2 seconds -5th August, 2014  

Conclusion

Xiaomi has resorted to unique market strategy to market its first smartphone Mi3 in India by creating hype and awareness about the product. Publicizing the number of people registering for the phone and the time in which the product is out of stock is very well serving the purpose of the company. Keeping total secrecy about the product sales and not allowing people to share their experiences on the website is making people more curious about it and creating more urge to have it.

How can it be called as fare by creating huge demand and enjoying the popularity without attempting to fulfill the demand. Xiaomi is exploiting the customers by putting very less units for sales as compared to the demand.

No doubt that the Mi3 is a great phone with great specifications and at very attractive price but the marketing strategy opted by Xiaomi cannot be called as a fair one. Xiaomi is not following ethical path and is exploiting the buyers and playing with their emotions.

See Also

Do not buy Redmi 1S
iPhone fans are dumb ?
How to Buy Mi3 Successfully -Step by Step Guide
20000 units of Mi3 to be sold on 12th August
Best Ever User Review of Mi3