Redmi K20 Pro price controversy: Xiaomi blames fake accounts, bots for ‘overpriced’ trend

Xiaomi claims bot/fake accounts were behind the ‘overpriced’ trend for Redmi K20 Pro smartphone. Here’s everything you need to know.

Xiaomi is now considering legal action (HT Photo)

Xiaomi had drawn flak over the pricing of its Redmi K20 Pro which launched in July this year. Shortly after the launch, many users took to Twitter and other forums to describe the phone as "overpriced." Months later, Xiaomi said that more than 900 bots/fake accounts were behind the overpriced trend for Redmi K20 Pro.

Xiaomi India Marketing Head Anuj Sharma in a series of tweets claimed that more than half of the 900+ bots/fake accounts have already been deleted. He also said that out of 900+ accounts, 487 were created in July 2019 itself. These bots/fake accounts were tweeting with 'overpriced' trend more than 100 times a day, he added.

Sharma added that the Redmi K20 Pro overpriced trend was a "massive effort to show a good product in bad light." "Redmi K series is now the second highest selling smartphone series among all phones in India above ₹20,000," he said. Sharma said that Xiaomi has reached out to Twitter and its legal team for further action.  

Who tweeted #RedmiK20 was overpriced? Some interesting stats.

During the campaign, we identified 900+ bots/fake accounts that were contributing to the #overpriced trend

(1/6) https://t.co/20zTCkpNcV pic.twitter.com/uenruWXVhJ

— Anuj Sharma (@s_anuj) September 12, 2019

Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro launched in India for a starting price of ₹27,999. The top-end model of the phone with 8GB and 256GB is priced at ₹30,999. With features such as Snapdragon 855 processor, pop-up selfie camera and 48-megapixel rear camera, Redmi K20 Pro competes with OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro. Xiaomi Redmi K20 Pro is also one of the cheapest smartphones in India to offer Qualcomm's top-end Snapdragon 855 chip.