We're just scratching our heads, the average user doesn't understand as much as we insiders do. We don't have a clear picture either, but we're trying to keep things clear and help fans navigate the bumpy road. Before I get started, let's start with a little Xiaomi history.
Xiaomi's Hungarian history dates back to 2011, when enthusiastic Hungarian fans started translating MIUI. Since the brand was only one device of the company at that time, it was not even a well-known brand and did not stand out among the Chinese phone companies that copied everything at that time. The breakthrough started in 2013, when MIUI Hungary was founded and the Mi 2s phone, which was already in wide use at the time, established the interest in Hungary. With the release of the Mi3, it burst straight into the public consciousness and started on the path that everyone now knows it by.
There was no progress in Hungary for years, until 2017, when the European conquest started and two companies were granted official reseller status in Hungary, Ingram Micro Magyarország Kft and WayteQ Europe Kft. The physical stores are now so widespread that the brand opens one almost every week in its home country, but in Europe the expansion has not yet taken off at such a pace. Here, the market is still dominated by the leading brands, but Xiaomi is steadily making its way up the podium and more and more people are tasting the term 'Saomi'. It has now become a way of life for many and interest has grown to the point where, in addition to online sales, a physical presence in every country was needed.
The first Hungarian Mi Store opened in Budapest on 25 August 2018 in the Lurdy House. The store was not opened directly by Xiaomi, but by its official distributor, WayteQ Europe Kft. The "Authorized Reseller" sign on the corner of the store proves that this is an official store, not like the fake Xiaomi stores of Pistike GSM you hear about in the surrounding countries.
On 20.08.2018, the day of the holiday, Fast Lane (Lane IP), a UK-based law firm specialising in the enforcement of trademarks, copyrights, designs, patents and domain names, sent a notice stating that "Your hosted website is misusing the intellectual property of Xiaomi Inc." This was specifically stated in the miui.hu domain and its content. The law firm acting on behalf of Xiaomi Inc. has said that its content should be deleted and the domain suspended. We did not do this, as we are an official site. Or so we thought. 1 hour later we received a warning from Youtube that the above mentioned company had filed a complaint against the Hello Xiaomi channel (in parallel xiaomishop) for illegal use of the Xiaomi name in the channel name. We have contacted the UK law firm but have not received a reply.
At 19:00 on the 22nd evening, Facebook told me that MIUI Hungary and Hello Xiaomi also received a notification from the company that it is illegal to use the words MIUI and XIAOMI there. Facebook immediately blocked the pages! An appeal may be possible, but it will be a long process, also with Google. Facebook is waiting for an email from the company that denounced the use of the name, so we could not do more than that, unless the UK law firm that was named wrote to them. It's a bit different with Google, where I have the option to veto the channel deletion. This was done. So no Facebook page, no Youtube channel, so that's why you didn't see the videos in the articles ano.
Everyone draws the conclusion at their own risk, we do not influence anyone's freedom of expression in any way. Let's jump back in time.
Established in 2019, or Xiaomi has officially entered our country. This was not done with a lot of fanfare, but quietly. Since then, under the leadership of Tibor Wágner, a lot has been done for Xiaomi fans. Not only introducing products to service providers, but also to the offerings of large stores. At the same time, the old, highly reputed (bad and good) xiaomishop.hu In 2020, another store, xiaomieurope.hu (Arena Mall), was also added, which was quite flowery. As it turned out, there were some problems with the operation, service background and don't even get me started, you know. Since then, the media platforms operated by WayteQ Europe Kft. and called Xiaomi Hungary have migrated nicely into the official Xiaomi hands, not coincidentally.
Since then they have gone through 2 name changes, first mismart, and now just mStore. So, why? According to their bulletin:
“This is why we are closing Xiaomi Mi Store stores!
We have made the most important decision in recent years to close Mi Stores, which have been operating with a steadily declining range of products, to create a coordinated network of stores offering a wider range of products than ever before, under the name mStore.”
I would like to mention that I would have liked to write and ask questions on their Facebook page, but unfortunately for me this option is blocked. So I can only read their page, I can no longer comment. I would also like to get an answer to this...
Anyway, the existing Mi Store stores have been closed down because Xiaomi doesn't want to see other sub-brands and subsidiaries' products in its own stores. It's not such an illogical move, because if there's a Mi Watch next to the watches of Amazfit, Haylou, etc., more than likely they won't go for the more expensive one. Therefore, everyone has outsourced it, as well as the xiaomishop.hu webshop and everyone else. WayteQ focuses on one store while others focus on separate ones. But now comes the 1000$ question. Official stores are still at Lurdy Budapest, Arcade Szeged and Forum Debrecen? Answer below...
And the xiaomi.hu domain will go to its rightful owner, Xiaomi. As it is currently owned by WayteQ and Hungarian law only allows the transfer through litigation or purchase. Well, so far the quiet and calm give and take has not happened, negotiations are probably going on in the background and maybe even a lawsuit. And the official Xiaomi Hungary page is xiaomiofficial.hu We'll ask about that too and if we get an answer, you'll be the first to know.
But let's have a look around their site, there are many nice things to find, but for us it's only the "Official partners" menu item that's interesting. But xiaomi.hu is not listed there, so mstore.hu is NOT an official Xiaomi store! If we go further, we can look in the "Mi Store store locator" menu to see where we can find OFF-LINE stores in Hungary. These are currently only available on the BauHaus stores, which includes the Xiaomi islands. No more. So, to the question above, is Lurdy Budapest, Árkád Szeged and Fórum Debrecen an official store? The answer is that they are not! None of them!
Well, if you've read this far, don't stop! Now comes the good part of the story! As you may have noticed in the last few days, if you've been following the Xiaomi Hungary FB page, will soon be a new official contributor to Xiaomi resources. This is none other than mi-home.hu webshop. The online shop will be launched tomorrow morning, 15.11.2021, and will offer a huge range of discounts to all new customers. Not to be missed!
The other is that I heard a rumour recently, by chance, that the Arena Mall is going to reopen. I visited the site and took some photos, but unfortunately I couldn't find anyone there to ask. So I will ask questions about that too, which I will publish together with the above.
