Undercut the competition...severely.
That's what Chinese smartphone juggernaut Xiaomi is clearly thinking with its new Mi Band Pulse. Adding a heart-rate monitor, the new device will retail for only $16, which is $3 more than the original Mi Band fitness tracker sold for when it was released last year. In comparison, that's about eight to nine times less than Fitbit's Charge and Charge HR, which retail for $129.95 and $149.95, and are wildly popular.
According to The Verge, with its added optical sensor to measure blood flow, the Mi Band Pulse will monitor users' heart rate, can still track activity and unlock their phones, while lasting up to 30 days via a single charge. Although Xiaomi hasn't announced plans to sell the wearable device worldwide, it did seemingly tease that on its Facebook page, asking: "Would you like to see this launched in your country too?"
Fitbit should be concerned, as it was estimated this past August that Xiaomi is already the third largest wearables vendor in the world, having shipped 3.1 million units of its wearables, which is just below Apple's 3.6 million and Fitbit's 4.4 million, according to research by IDC.
Obviously, with a price as low as $16, Xiaomi's Mi Band Pulse will maintain being a key player in the market by sheer volume sold, just as its predecessor did.
The Mi Band Pulse is also slated to hit sales on China's Singles Day on November 11, which is the biggest online shopping day in the world — considerably larger than both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which might explain why sales giants like Amazon and Walmart are expanding upon their holiday sales to include the entire month of November.
Would you purchase the Mi Band Pulse without giving the Fitbit any consideration — solely based on the unbeatable price of $16?
