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Xiaomi India Pilots Refurbished and Unboxed Smartphone Retail: Report

Xiaomi India Pilots Refurbished and Unboxed Smartphone Retail: Report

By Ketan Pratap | Updated: 23 January 2015 19:40 IST

Xiaomi has seen impressive response from consumers in India and the company even hit the milestone of selling 1 million smartphones last year. The popular 'flash sale' model kicked off by Xiaomi and Flipkart has also received a great response; however there have been a few buyers left unhappy every time after a flash sale.

Now, the Chinese company is trying its hands onto different retail model that involves selling of "refurbished and unboxed" units in the country. A report on Friday suggested that Xiaomi is testing a limited pilot retail model for selling refurbished and unboxed smartphones.

Xiaomi India Head Manu Kumar Jain told BGR India, "At times we get devices that are perfectly fine and have no problem, but they are opened boxes. This is a pilot we are doing in India to see if such a model can work."

(Also see: Also see: Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G to Go on Sale Without Registration This Weekend)

Xiaomi handsets being sold under the pilot are reportedly the ones returned by buyers to Flipkart, the exclusive online retail partner of the brand in India.

The report adds that the company has currently tied up few partners both in online and offline retail to sell units of the Redmi 1S in limited numbers.

(Also see: Old is Gold - Refurbished Electronics Growing in Popularity)

Overcart, a marketplace that sells unboxed, refurbished, and pre-owned products, is currently selling the Xiaomi Redmi 1S in two categories - unboxed at Rs. 4,999, which includes a seal-opened product, and another refurbished at Rs. 4,599, which has been restored to its original working condition by the manufacturer. For those unaware, the Redmi 1S is priced at Rs. 5,999 new, and is exclusive to Flipkart.

Jain is said to have stressed that this is a pilot retail model and the company will decide to "scale it up or not" depending on the feedback.

NDTV Gadgets has reached out to Xiaomi India for comments on the pilot retail model and will update the story once we receive comments from the company.

With offline sales of its Redmi Note 4G handset via Airtel, Xiaomi had earlier this year begun testing physical store sales in India in an effort to boost sales in the country. At that time, Jain had said, "If this works out fine, we'll expand the partnership to other cities and other devices," adding that it was too early to form any concrete plans yet.

Xiaomi Redmi 1S

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great battery life
Class-leading camera performance
Good display

Bad
Available RAM for apps is low
Boring design

Read detailed Xiaomi Redmi 1S review

Display 4.70-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 (MSM8228)

Front Camera 1.6-megapixel

Rear Camera 8-megapixel

RAM 1GB

Storage 8GB

Battery Capacity 2000mAh

OS Android 4.3

Resolution 720x1280 pixels

More Xiaomi mobiles Xiaomi mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Android, Mobiles, Xiaomi, Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Xiaomi Redmi 1S Price, Xiaomi Redmi 1S Price in India

Ketan Pratap

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Ketan Pratap is the editor at Gadgets 360 - with over 12 years of experience covering the technology domain. With a breadth and depth of knowledge in the field, he's done extensive work across news, features, reviews, and opinion pieces. But what's truly inspiring about Ketan is how he spends his free time. He's often found gazing at snow-capped mountains from over 20,000 feet while sitting on the hood of his car, taking in the breathtaking beauty of nature. His passion for the great ...More