Announced by Xiaomi to celebrate its fifth anniversary, the 12 hour sale made Xiaomi richer by 2.08 billion yuan (USD 335 million) from sales of handsets and other accessories. In the process it broke the earlier sale record held by Alibaba’s Tmall, which sold 1.89 million handsets on Singles’ Day in November during a 24-hour event.
— Mi (@xiaomi) April 9, 2015 “Good news: Xiaomi just set a new Guinness World Record, selling 2.11 million mobile phones in 24 hours,” chief executive Lei Jun posted on Sina Weibo – the Chinese equivalent of Twitter – shortly after the event. “This is beyond my imagination,” the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post quoted Lei as telling reporters at the company’s headquarters here. The new record has been certified by the official Guinness World Records and examined by auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers, he said. During the 12 hour flash sale period, Xiaomi sold Mi 4, Mi Power Banks, Mi Power Strip and other accessories at discounted prices to commemorate its anniversary. It also easily broke its own flash sale record last year, which saw them selling 1.3 million smartphones. In 2014, Xiaomi sold 61 million smartphones and had revenue of 74.3 billion yuan, becoming the world’s number three smartphone player and China’s top smartphone brand, overtaking Apple and Samsung. The company was valued at USD 45 billion in a December funding round that drew investors ranging from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund to a private capital firm backed by Alibaba Group co-founder Jack Ma.
