By Eric Bellman
NEW DELHI--An Indian court temporarily allowed the import of
devices from China's largest smartphone maker, Xiaomi Inc., after
blocking shipments on a complaint from Sweden's Ericsson.
India stopped the import of Xiaomi phones last week after the
Ericsson said the Chinese firm was using its technology but
refusing to pay royalties.
"The court today gave Xiaomi a temporary permission to continue
importing phones which are based on chip sets from Qualcomm," as
long as it puts 100 rupees ($1.56) per phone into an account with
the court, the Swedish company said in a statement. "This is a
temporary decision until the court in the first instance can look
into the matter more closely."
Ericsson said the next hearing on the issue is scheduled for
Jan. 8, and it will argue that no Xiaomi devices should be allowed
no matter which chip set they use because all of them are using
Ericsson technology.
"Xiaomi needs a license from Ericsson for all of their phones
imported to India, which will be clarified in the upcoming
hearing," Ericsson said.
Xiaomi Global Vice President Hugo Barra said Tuesday in a post
on his Facebook page that the company will have one of its flash
sales of a batch of phones next week.
"We are happy to announce that the Delhi High Court today issued
a ruling in our favor, allowing us to resume sales in India subject
to certain terms," the post said. "We'll be having our next sale on
Tuesday, December 23. Registration will open shortly."
Last week the High Court of Delhi said Xiaomi products wouldn't
be allowed into India and Xiaomi's main distributor, online
retailer Flipkart Internet Pvt. Ltd., wouldn't be allowed to sell
Xiaomi products as the court waits to hear Ericsson's
complaint.
Xiaomi launched its first smartphone in India in July and
captured 1.5% of the Indian smartphone market in the third quarter,
according to Counterpoint Research. The research firm earlier said
Xiaomi was on track to double its market share this quarter.
Dhanya Ann Thoppil in Bangalore, India, contributed to this
article.
Write to Eric Bellman at eric.bellman@wsj.com
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