The initial sales results of Xiaomi ’s new 17-series smartphones have “exceeded expectations” so far, according to company founder, chairman and CEO Lei Jun in a Tuesday post on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo .
In a separate Weibo post on Tuesday, Xiaomi’s smartphone business president, Lu Weibing , apologised for the “insufficient stock” of the company’s new flagship handset in the market, which has inconvenienced buyers. On October 2, Lu said more than 1 million units of the Xiaomi 17 had been sold a week after it was released, which surpassed the previous series’ performance.
The latest posts from Xiaomi’s senior executives reflected the company’s confidence in its sharpened focus to compete in premium-priced smartphones, handsets that cost more than US$600, against rivals Apple and Huawei Technologies .
The senior Xiaomi executives lauded the promotional and marketing efforts behind the 17 series in spite of some analysts’ negative sales projections.