Last year, Xiaomi released a tablet, fittingly called the Mi Pad. The device was apparently enough of a success that a sequel was in order, and so last month the Mi Pad 2 released. Priced at 999 Yuan (approximately $156) the device had only 16GB of storage and ran Android. Today, Xiaomi released a 64GB variant that has Android or Windows 10 on-board, for a very reasonably 1299 Yuan ($203). The biggest surprise however? The new variant sold out in under a minute.
The Mi Pad 2 features a 7.9 inch, 1536 X 2048 pixel display, a 2.2GHz Intel Atom X5-Z8500 SoC, 2GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera with f/2.0 and a 5-megapixel front facing camera, a 6190mAh battery, and USB Type-C.
The sudden sell out
The sales surge for this particular product is quite a curious one to say the least. Given that the 16GB Mi Pad 2 failed to generate such a sell-out, it begs the question of what was the cause today? Three potential explanations are plausible:
- Xiaomi underestimated demand and there were not enough of the 64GB variants to meet it. This is certainly a possibility assuming that the OEM didn't understand the impact increased storage would have on its tablet, but is probably unlikely.
- Customers had been waiting and were overwhelmingly interested in the larger storage option.
- Windows 10.
As global tablet sales have begun to plateau, it is possible the presence of Windows 10 gave the Mi Pad 2 a greater sense of allure than its Android compatriot. While it would ultimately require Xiaomi to provide specifics as to the sales breakdown across all three of the devices, should it be revealed that Microsoft's platform earns the majority of sales, the relatively new Chinese OEM might conceivably have a viable future in making an entire range of Windows products.
The workings of Windows
Interestingly enough for a growing company like Xiaomi to potentially see success with Windows might not only help out its overall profit picture, but also begin to alter the Chinese OS situation. Android is currently extremely popular there with Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus, and various other OEMs all making use of Google's platform.
If Windows becomes more relevant however, there would seemingly be little reason not to also see an adoption of Windows 10 mobile devices, or at the very least resources that would have been spent entirely on Android product development split between the two.
Given that Xiaomi has already released Windows 10 on one of its phones, and now a tablet as well, clearly there is more than a mild amount of curiosity as to the potential of such products.
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