Xiaomi can heave a sigh of partial relief in it’s battle against the ban issued by the Delhi High Court, which prevents them from selling their smartphones in India.
Today, the HC announced that the company can sell it’s Qualcomm powered phones in the Country until January 8th, i.e for 23 days.
The news comes via a tweet from the Press Trust of India which said,
Delhi HC permits Xiaomi to sell and import Qualcomm chipset based handsets till January 8.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 16, 2014
So, which phone does this ban affect now? Sadly it, it is the Redmi Note (3G), powered by the MediaTek chipset that will be banned for now.
But the company can still sell it’s Qualcomm variant of the phablet, the Redmi Note 4G, as well as the Redmi 1S. The 4G variant was scheduled to be launched exclusively at Flipkart, and Airtel Stores.
Earlier this year Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra and Manu Jain, had stated that the company would be bringing it’s current flagship phone, the Mi 4, to India by the end of the year. Since it is also powered by a Qualcomm chipset, it will be eligible to be sold in the Country. It can also sell the Mi3, should it wish to bring it back to India. However, it is unclear whether the temporary lifting of the ban allows the company to import their devices to India.
The HC will hear the case filed by Ericsson against Xiaomi on February 5th 2015.
