Xiaomi forced to suspend smartphone sales in India until next year

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Xiaomi forced to suspend smartphone sales in India until next year
India has quickly become a very important market for Xiaomi, but the company is now seeing its efforts to expand there being hampered by legal issues.

Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra today published an open letter to Indian fans, saying that the company is being “forced to suspend sales in India until further notice,” following an order passed by the Delhi High Court. Hugo Barra doesn’t provide further details, but The Economic Times has more on the matter. 

Reportedly, Ericsson claims that Xiaomi is infringing upon eight of its essential patents related to 3G, EDGE, and AMR (adaptive multi-rate) technologies. Thus, the Delhi High Court ordered Xiaomi to cease phone sales and imports until early February, when a final decision should be made, based on Ericsson's patent-infringement petition.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi says that it’s “investigating the matter carefully”, “assessing legal options”, and “doing all it can to revert the situation.”

According to The Economic Times, Xiaomi sold more than 800,000 smartphones in India since entering the market back in July. Moreover, Hugo Barra added that, in the last two days, about 150,000 customers registered their interest for the Redmi Note - Xiaomi’s latest handset to reach India. It’s definitely not a good time for Xiaomi to get a sales ban, is it?

sources: Hugo Barra (Facebook), The Economic Times

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