Xiaomi sells 40,000 Redmi 1S phones in 4 seconds in India

The Chinese company appears to be unable to keep up with demand for its phones in India - leading to complains on Facebook about the "limited" quantity of its stocks.

By any other measure, Xiaomi's latest flash sale in India would have been a roaring success. The up and coming Chinese smartphone maker just announced that it sold out all 40,000 units of its new Redmi 1S Android phone. But the sale was over in just seconds, and that appears to have left some of its Indian fans upset.

Some fans have taken to the company's Facebook page to complain about the limited stock, having been unable to get their hands on the 5,999 Indian Rupee ($99, £60, AU$106) smartphone.

The company itself claimed the phone sold out in 4.2 seconds. Registrations for its next flash sale will open at 6pm India time today.

Unlike other smartphone makers, Xiaomi relies on a flash-sale model to get its products out to its customers, and holds these sales on a regular basis for the countries where it operates, building buzz on social media.

While the company recently got in trouble with Taiwanese authorities over the accuracy of its sales numbers, the situation in India is a different matter altogether.

In India, Xiaomi has partnered with e-commerce retail site Flipkart to sell its devices. The site uses registrations of interest to provide a virtual queue for users to make purchases and so far, the demand for the Redmi 1S far exceeds supply with over 250,000 users wanting to buy the new phone.

The Redmi 1S is the follow up to the Redmi, an Android phone that offered exceptional value for its low price. The Redmi 1S just as tempting -- it comes with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor clocked at 1.6GHz and twice the storage space at 8GB. The smartphone still has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 4.7-inch display with an HD resolution of 1,280x720 pixels.

Besides India, the Redmi 1S is currently sold in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and will be launching in the Philippines and Indonesia on September 4.

Xiaomi to launch $13 fitness band next week

The ridiculously cheap fitness band will go on sale Monday, but don't pull our your wallet just yet. There are a couple of caveats.

Chinese vendor Xiaomi will launch its new rock-bottom-priced fitness band on Monday. Known as the Mi Band, the device will sell for 79 yuan, which translates to about $13 or 10 euros.

The first wearable gadget from a company known for its increasingly popular smartphones, the Mi Band can monitor and help with your exercise routine, wake you up when you oversleep, and last for 30 days on a single battery charge. The Mi Band can also track your swimming routine since it's water resistant at a depth of more than three feet.

So what's the catch?

Well, for now the device apparently will be sold only in China, and Xiaomi has yet to reveal any global availability. Like other fitness bands, the Mi Band takes on extra powers when paired with a smartphone such as unlocking your phone when the two devices are nearby -- but this bonus works only with Xiaomi smartphones. Of course, you can still use the Mi Band as a fitness tracker without pairing it with a phone.

Outfitted with Android 4.4 and Bluetooth, the Mi Band comes in a range of colors, including blue, pink, brown, black, purple, and gray.

Based on price alone, the Mi Band could be a hot seller whether it stays in China or branches out to the rest of the world. Other fitness bands sell for considerably more, notably the Withings Pulse O2 at $120, the Jawbone Up24 at $150, and the Pebble Steel at $250.

Five reasons why Xiaomi is a serious smartphone player

Xiaomi has been relatively unknown outside of Asia, but a new Strategy Analytics report shows that the Beijing-based company has shot up to being the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker, behind Samsung, Apple, Huawei, and Lenovo.

What people outside of Xiaomi's home markets, such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and India, do know about the 4-year-old company often stems from the negative: Xiaomi's smartphone designs have been blasted for mimicking iPhone design, though the company has spoken out about this and has added some of its own flair. The Mi Pad tablet and the recent Xiaomi Mi 4 phone are two examples.

Yet Xiaomi is clearly doing something right, and despite arguably riding on Apple's design coattails, the company's more mundane smartphones, such as the budget Redmi phone and Redmi Note phablet, are the key drivers behind the company's growth -- a growth that promises to become even more explosive, especially when Xiaomi begins its planned expansion into Brazil and possibly other Western markets.

We'll be seeing a lot of the company in the next few years. Here are the five key reasons why Xiaomi will be a force to be reckoned with.

1. High-quality products

It's hard to deny that Xiaomi has great products -- apart from the company's high-end flagship devices such as the Mi 3 or the Mi 4, its budget line is impressive for the value it offers. Take the Redmi Note, for example. It's a 5.5-inch phablet with an octa-core processor that offers performance that punches above its price range, but that's not all. Xiaomi also has other products such as routers and a UHD TV that regularly sell out in China.

2. Affordable Prices

This leads us to the second point, affordability. The Redmi Note, for example, retails at around $154 (£95 or AU$170), depending on the country, which is way below what you'd expect to pay for a smartphone of its calibre. All prices are off-contract.

The company's flagship products are also priced as midrange phones, but have features that compete directly with the high-end devices. Then there's the MiTV2, a UHD TV sold in China that costs just $640 (£380 or AU$690), a far cry from what Samsung and LG typically sell theirs for.

Of course, you may be wondering how it's possible for Xiaomi to slash prices and still make a profit, but the company's business model is to simply sell as close to cost as it can, and then turn a profit over time when manufacturing costs drop.

3. Mi Fans

Like Apple and Samsung fans, Xiaomi has a dedicated consumer base that absolutely loves its products. In fact, these "Mi Fans" regularly attend the company's product launches in China, where they loudly cheer and applaud every announcement. These Mi Fans aren't just limited to China, though. Xiaomi regularly reaches out to fans in other countries to talk about its most important product, MIUI.

4. MIUI

At the core of Xiaomi's products lies MIUI ("my UI"), a ROM skin based on Android that powers the company's smartphones and tablets. MIUI has plenty of features you can't find on Android or iOS, like navigation gestures and plenty of themes to jazz up your phone as well.

MIUI allows Xiaomi to offer a unique experience compared with other smartphones and the best part of the Android ROM is that you can download and use it on other Android phones as well. So if you want to use MIUI on your older HTC One, you can do so simply by just heading to the MIUI site and downloading the appropriate ROM.

5. Hugo Barra

Snagging a former Google exec from Silicon Valley to head the company's international expansion was quite a coup for Xioami. 

Barra represents the face of the company to English-speaking media (Barra himself hails from Brazil), and his past success with Google as Android's vice president carries tremendous weight for Xiaomi in the smartphone world.

Under Barra's direction, Xioami hopes to make true world phones in the next two years, blending Chinese and global perspectives for a universally appealing phone that achieves distribution along the lines of a Samsung or Apple flagship. With his extensive contacts and carrier relationships amassed during his time at Google, Barra has the reach to help Xiaomi succeed in the increasingly competitive smartphone market.