Brazilians snap up Xiaomi phones despite technical problems

Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi held its eagerly awaited second online sales event in Brazil on Tuesday, with legions of Brazilian customers rushing online to take part.

According to Xiaomi, the event was a great success, with 10,000 Redmi 2 phones having been sold out within minutes alongside over 4,000 accessories, such as Mi headphones, covers, and screen protectors.

This proved to be a duplicate of the first event, held on July 7, where the stock sold out at an astonishing rate.

"The start of operations in Brazil has surpassed our expectations," said Leo Marroig, Xiaomi's Director General for Latin America, on the heels of the second event.

"We are excited about the tremendous support and very pleased with the great participation of Mi fans in the development of Xiaomi in Brazil," he continued.

However, Tuesday's flash sale seems to have been plagued with some technical troubles.

Xiaomi Brazil's Facebook page was inundated with comments from customers who said they had been able to buy the phones but not to print the Boleto Bancario (bank ticket) needed to pay for them.

The problem appeared to be that when customers tried to print the Boleto Bancario, a very popular payment option in Brazil, they received an error message, saying the bank ticket had expired.

"I can't access the ticket that I just bought. It's telling me the ticket is expired," Renan Lazarini wrote on the "Mi Brasil" Facebook page.

The problem appeared to finally be resolved as users later said they successfully bought their Redmi 2 phones and accessories.

The same problems also dogged the Boleto Bancario payment option during the first online sales event last week.

While Xiaomi also accepts payments by credit card, which have worked without issue, the smartphone maker rolled out the Boleto Bancario payment solution for the Brazilian market as a way of allowing more customers to enter the flash sale.

The Boleto Bancario is issued by a merchant or store when a customer orders a product. The ticket is issued with a specific due date, usually two or three days, within which time the customer must complete the payment at an ATM, bank counter, or via online banking.

Over 24 percent of all online payments in Brazil are made with the Boleto Bancario.