Xiaomi's claims of fast sellouts being investigated by the Taiwan FTC

We've told you about some of those "hunger marketing" claims by Xiaomi. The most recent one was reported Tuesday, when an undisclosed number of Xiaomi Mi3 units were sold out in India after just five seconds. Another batch will be sold on August 5th. But it turns out that the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission has been receiving complaints, and is investigating these claims. One of the cases being looked at involved the Xiaomi Red Rice, which was involved in a "hunger marketing" campaign last December.

The Taiwan FTC is concerned about how the "hunger marketing" process hypes up a phone, making a particular model seem more valuable, or hard to find, than it really is. If it turns out that Xiaomi has been exaggerating the number of phones sold, or the speed in which they were purchased, the manufacturer could be fined $20,000. In this case, it is not so much the company's vault, but its reputation, that would take a hit.

There is talk that Xiaomi had sold only a few hundred units in one sale from 2013. In other situation, the manufacturer is believed to have shut down sales before the inventory was sold out.

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source: iapps.im (translated) via GSMDome