Higher cost is justified by its specifications.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: The Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi will release the 4G powered Mi4 in India on Wednesday, and likely gain an edge over competitors like One Plus and Yu Yureka.
The Head of Xiaomi in India, Manu Jain, said in an interview to The Indian Express that the new smartphone will be priced around Rs. 20,000 ($326). Considering the price at which Xiaomi had earlier launched their devices, the new pricing is a bit higher than expected.
The higher cost of Mi4 compared to Mi3 and Redmi Note is justified by its specification.
Xiaomi Mi4 is powered with a premium 4G enabled 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor coupled with 3GB RAM. The phone features a 13 MP camera like Mi3 with HD Recording and an upgraded front camera with 8 MP for taking selfies and video conferencing. The device is backed by a 3000 mAh battery that can last or more than a day. The Mi 4 features a metal chassis with a removable back panel made out of plastic. The device is compact and lighter than Mi 3.
Mi4 is the third device from the house of Xiaomi, which in the last six months launched Mi3, Redmi 1S and Redmi Note in the Indian market. Also, the new device will be sold in India through Flipkart, the official sales partner of Xiaomi in India.
There are also reports that Xiaomi will soon launch its own online platform for selling the devices, which is the model that the company follows in China. This is mainly due to the increasing demand for Xiaomi smartphones in India, which has already become the second largest smartphone market for the Chinese company.
According to the International Data Corporation report released on September 2014, Samsung has the highest market in India with 24% followed by Micromax with 20%, then by Lava, Karbonn and Micromax.