1,000 Mi Bands sold out in seconds, fans show their anger

Xiaomi ran a flash sale for the fitness band on May 5, 2015. The Mi Band was available for a flash sale on the mi.com website for just one rupee for the first 1,000 buyers. Registrations were open for a week where you were required to open a Xiaomi account and then register for the flash sale.

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Also read: All you need to know about the one rupee Xiaomi Mi Band fitness accessory

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The flash sale was similar to the Flipkart flash sale, which is held for Xiaomi’s handsets. Similar to the Flipkart sale, we did notice that the countdown timer was running amiss, showing different timings unless you refresh the browser. We checked the same with two computers and found the timer running a almost 5 to 6 seconds apart from each other, until we refreshed it. We also did have a single computer ready for the flash sale with the two accounts opened side-by-side in Chrome and Opera. The timers were running amiss there too with seconds apart to the final deadline. Refreshing it definitely helped sync the timers, but we were not sure if the timer was rightly synced with server’s clock. The same issue with Flipkart was noticed initially when the Mi 3 sales were running.

However, we did not manage to buy a single Mi Band during the sale. We made sure we hit the ‘buy’ button on time, but in vain. Now that Xiaomi seems to have exhausted the stock, you will have to opt for the Mi Band at the market price of Rs 999. The sale will commence soon.

Fans that registered and were on the dot for buying the Mi Band were disappointed and showed their disgust on the company’s Facebook post. While one commented “as expected, this was just a publicity stunt from these m****rf****s”, another one said “sale was meant for @2pm, at 9.,25am site showing sold out! guys at least don't cheat on people! is Don't good for a brand repute!”. Were you one of the fans who registered and managed to get your hands on a one rupee Mi Band? If yes, let us know in the comments below.

Xiaomi launched the Mi Band alongside the Mi 4i in India at the global launch in New Delhi on 23 April, 2015. The Chinese smartphone giant announced that the Mi Band will be priced at Rs 999 for India and the first 1,000 buyers will get the fitness band for a mere Re 1. If you wanted a Mi Band for the price of Re 1, you had to head to the Mi.com website, register for a free account and then register yourself for the sale on May 5, 2015. First lucky buyers were given the Mi Band for a mere Re 1, while the others will not have to buy it for the regular price of Rs 999.

At the global launch in New Delhi, there was an attendance of over 2,000 people, which comprised of fans and media personnel. Xiaomi announced a free Mi Band for every person attending the event. The lucky ones who got a free fitness band went home that evening to setup the Mi Band to their wrist and connect it to their account, resulting in a server overload for new account registrations till late that night. So what is the Mi Band and why is it popular? Click here to read more.