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Xiaomi apologies for UK ‘Flash Sale’ in which only ten phones were made available
June 16, 2025
Xiaomi hasapologizedfor any misunderstanding caused by a series of ‘Flash Sales’ it held on itsU.K. launch day. The web sale saw Xiaomi reduce theXiaomi Mi 8 LiteandXiaomi Mi A2price to just one pound (~$1.29). However, only a total of ten phones were made available throughout the four flash sales, causing some backlash among fans.
TheBBCreported that since the sale, a number of complaints were made on the Xiaomi Facebook page and, more seriously, to the UK’s advertising standards watchdog.
The exact number of devices that would be available was not mentioned on the offer’s sales page — although, it could be found in theterms and conditions. Here Xiaomi explained that three devices would be available in each of the first two sales, and two would be available in each of the second two sales. However, the BBC said the company only added these figures to the terms and conditions on the day before the sale.
There was also controversy surrounding how Xiaomi selected the sale’s ‘winners.’ A Twitter user discovered that Xiaomi’s website showed the handsets as being sold out immediately following the sale, raising a question as to whether they had sold any units at all.
Xiaomi U.K. sales manager Wilkin Lee subsequently weighed in,writing on Twitter: “Of the thousands who clicked ‘buy’ simultaneously, the tie-breaker is done by selecting the winners randomly. Winners will access inventory to add to cart and proceed, which is why there was no call to check stock limit on the page.”
However, this was yet another poorly explained aspect of the sale, asXiaomi’s terms and conditions pagesaid winners are selected on a “first come, first serve” basis, not by lottery.
Xiaomi’s response
In astatementon Twitter, Xiaomi apologized saying that it did not realize people in the U.K. would associate the term ‘Flash Sale’ with a type of sale where “more than 10 devices were available.”
Reactions to the apology on Twitter were mixed. Whilesomecriticized the company for being too vague in regards to the terms of the deal,otherssuggested that the company’s phones are more important than its PR.
The phones that were available for one pound were theXiaomi Mi 8 Liteand theXiaomi Mi A2. The Mi 8 Lite currently costs 249 pounds (~$320), while the Mi A2 is 259 pounds (~$333.59) on the Xiaomi U.K. website. In total, twelve different smartphone models arecurrently availableon the company’s site in the U.K.
Xiaomi often employsflash salesto drum up interest for its devices and they oftensell out in seconds. However, the companyusually claimsto have more than just ten devices available for sale.
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