The Indian arm of Chinese smartphone vendor Xiaomi teased on Monday that it intends to announce something ‘jaw-dropping’ on Tuesday, June 30th. The company hit Twitter on Monday morning to announce “It’s Note-worthy to stay tuned tomorrow for a jaw-dropping catch. What might it be?”. The company also announced a contest on Facebook, whereby one lucky commentator stands the chance to win a Xiaomi product. The Facebook teaser read, “It’s Note-worthy to stay tuned tomorrow for a jaw-dropping catch. Make a guess what it might be in the comments below, and tag a few friends to join in the fun too! One lucky person will walk away with a Mi product tomorrow. Contest ends 30th June, 10AM”.
Speculation in the Indian media suggest that Xiaomi is either likely to launch the Mi Note Pro on Tuesday or reduce the price of the existing Redmi Note 4G, which was originally launched in India at Rs. 9,999 ($160). It remains to be seen which way the cookie crumbles, but many in the country’s tech media seem unconvinced about the launch of the high-end Mi Note Pro seeing as Xiaomi has always announced new products at lavish media events. The company has recently slashed prices of its flagship Mi4 smartphone, amidst growing competition from OnePlus and Asus. The price of the 64 GB version has recently been adjusted downwards by Rs. 4,000 ($65) from 23,999 ($385) to 19,999 ($320). The price of the 16 GB version meanwhile, saw a bigger drop from 19,999 ($320) to Rs. 14,999 ($240).
Xiaomi is said to be prepping the launch of the Redmi Note 2 in China next Monday, and the company is expected to bring the device to the Indian market pretty soon after its debut in Xiaomi’s home country. It would be interesting to ‘note’ the pricing of the device when it does finally hit the Indian shores, but it is expected to be at par with the pricing in the Chinese market. India is only the first country that Xiaomi ventured into outside of China, and has already become the largest overseas market for the company in about a year of operation. Since setting up shop in India, Xiaomi has also either started or looking to start operations in several markets worldwide including Brazil, Russia, Turkey and Indonesia among others. The company is also reportedly looking at the prospect of setting up a manufacturing facility in India.