Instagram Outage Disrupts Thousands of U.S. Users 
Sony Q3 Profit Jumps on Gaming and Image Sensors, Full-Year Outlook Raised 
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Acquires xAI in Historic Deal Uniting Space and Artificial Intelligence 
Alphabet’s Massive AI Spending Surge Signals Confidence in Google’s Growth Engine 
Anthropic Eyes $350 Billion Valuation as AI Funding and Share Sale Accelerate 
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge 
Jensen Huang Urges Taiwan Suppliers to Boost AI Chip Production Amid Surging Demand 
TSMC Eyes 3nm Chip Production in Japan with $17 Billion Kumamoto Investment 
SpaceX Pivots Toward Moon City as Musk Reframes Long-Term Space Vision 
AMD Shares Slide Despite Earnings Beat as Cautious Revenue Outlook Weighs on Stock 
OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering 
Taiwan Says Moving 40% of Semiconductor Production to the U.S. Is Impossible 
SpaceX Seeks FCC Approval for Massive Solar-Powered Satellite Network to Support AI Data Centers 
Tencent Shares Slide After WeChat Restricts YuanBao AI Promotional Links 
Amazon Stock Rebounds After Earnings as $200B Capex Plan Sparks AI Spending Debate 
Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch 
Xiaomi is making a nice gesture to thank its earliest customers. To mark the 10th anniversary of the Mi 1 phone, the company announced it is going to refund the phone’s full price.
On Monday, Aug. 16, it will be 10 years since the phone that put Xiaomi’s brand on the map was released. Xiaomi announced on its official Weibo page that the Mi 1, which cost ¥1,999 (around $309 today) at the time, had initially sold 184,600 units.
After translating the Weibo post via Google Translate, it appears that the company expressed its gratitude to the customers who gave the first Xiaomi phone a chance. The company noted that after earning ¥370 million, or more than $57.1 million in today’s currency conversion, from the Mi 1 sales, it has since become part of the prestigious Fortune 500 company and has currently placed second as the smartphone vendor with the highest units shipped worldwide.
“This represents the gratitude of Xiaomi's 36,000 employees,” Xiaomi added. “We will always be grateful to all the friends and partners who have helped us!”
The Xiaomi Mi 1 was one of the first smartphones to enter the market with more affordable pricing compared to its global competitors. For its introductory price, it shipped with the dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 with a base clock speed of 1.5GHz and Adreno 220 GPU. It also featured a 4-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen. The device immediately became popular in China, and Xiaomi reportedly received more than 300,000 pre-orders in 34 hours after its announcement.
However, Android Authority reports that the Xiaomi Mi 1 refund may not be distributed in the form of cash. The company appears to be giving it away as a store credit. But considering its value today, it is still quite a generous act from the company.
Xiaomi was not exaggerating when it said that the company has been successful since launching Mi 1. The company has also branched out with several sub-brands, like Redmi and Poco, that became popular in other regions for its so-called flagship killer phones. Earlier this month, Counterpoint Research reported that Xiaomi was the number one smartphone brand worldwide after surpassing Apple and Samsung sales in June.
Photo by Christian Salas on Unsplash
