Xiaomi is blocking its phones in 6 countries. The motive would be to comply with international export regulations, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Xiaomi currently sells the most 5G cell phones worldwide, but beware because not all countries are allowed to sell Xiaomi phones, which is something that many consumers are unaware of.
The Haidian behemoth, on the other hand, has no formal presence in a number of areas, such as the United States, despite having never been known to impede the importation of gadgets and their usage even in markets not always supported.
Xiaomi blocking its phones in 6 countries
This has changed now, as we were told by the colleagues of xda-developers, because complying with international export regulations, and although its internal policies do not explicitly prohibit the sale of Xiaomi smartphones outside countries with official presence, it seems that the Chinese manufacturer has begun to proactively block their devices in these 6 countries:
- Cuba
- Iran
- Syria
- North Korea
- Sudan
- Crimea Region
For the past few weeks, Xiaomi has been proactively blocking users from provisioning their phones if they live in Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, or Crimea, in order to comply with export regulations and stop resellers. https://t.co/51AdXIMgnW
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) September 9, 2021
The news went viral on Reddit in the XiaomiAddicts communities, and it’s spreading quickly through social media where we may already see images of Xiaomi phones that indicate that they cannot be used in any of the aforementioned six nations after a few days since initial activation:
Xiaomi’s policy does not allow the sale or supply of the product in the territory where you have tried to activate it. Please contact the retailers directly for additional information.
Some users claim that this block affects only phones activated in the blacklisted regions and, as previously stated, continues to function properly on all Xiaomi devices sold in their countries of sale and proven legal. This is still a hypothesis at this time.
Nor does it seem that the blocking affects phones with custom ROMs, something that is at least curious but understandable as codes have been touched in the software version.
Important news for anybody who wishes to bring a Xiaomi into any of these nations, since the Terms and Conditions of Xiaomi ban exporting mobile phones to these six countries but with no notification that this immediate blocking is about to take effect:
14.2 The contract and all products sold are subject to applicable export control laws, including but not limited to the export control laws of the United States and Buyer’s jurisdiction. Buyer shall not export any purchased products to any country or territory or any location if prohibited by export control laws. Prohibited countries and territories include Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, and the Crimea region. If the purchaser wants to export any product to another country, it must obtain the required export licenses or other governmental approvals before doing so.
