Look who’s fuming over rip-offs! Xiaomi, who is taking on biggies like Samsung and Apple in the smartphone market, is now complaining about counterfeits. Interestingly, it has been criticised by many for its ‘Apple-inspired’ products.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Xiaomi’s Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said that ‘fakes’ selling in the market is one of the major issues the company sales issue the company is facing.
“What is the biggest problem? There are many fakes. If there were no counterfeits, our sales would be double or triple. The product has been recognized by everyone,” Lei reportedly said.
‘Fakes’ have been a hurdle in the sale of the Mi Power Bank battery pack for smartphones that hit 14.6 million units last year, less than half of what the company was expecting. “The smartphone maker sells at least three configurations of the Mi Power Bank on its website in China at prices ranging from about $7.90 to $21. At those prices, the revenue lost to counterfeiters would be equal to at least $115 million,” the report adds.
Xiaomi is considered to be one of the world’s most valuable start-ups at $45 billion, and recently celebrated its fifth anniversary. During its anniversary celebrations, the company sold over two million phones in a 12-hour period, setting a Guinness World Record for mobile phone sales.
The half-day bonanza, which brought in 2.08 billion yuan ($335 million) from sales of handsets and other accessories broke the previous record held by Alibaba’s Tmall, which sold 1.89 million handsets in November during a 24-hour event.
Xiaomi is also all set to launch a new device on April 23 in India. This will also be a global launch for this phone, details of which are not yet out.
