Chinese smartphone and home electronics maker Xiaomi seems to be enforcing its export policy that prohibits the use of its smartphones in certain regions of the world. The company is now proactively preventing access to its devices that may have been illegally transferred to some countries.

The countries prohibited include Syria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Crimea, and North Korea, but unauthorized resellers have continued to smuggle Xiaomi smartphones into these territories for sale. It is however unclear how the group of restricted territories was determined, as Xiaomi still lacks an official presence in many more countries.

The Xiaomi export policy prohibits the sale or export of its devices to unapproved regions, although the devices could still work under certain circumstances. The company has just started enforcing the policy by preventing new devices from being activated from these unauthorized regions.

The move is believed to have affected several users as they are locked after only a few days of using their smartphones. Affected users may get a notification that Xiaomi policy does not permit the sale or provision of its product to the user’s territory, hence the activation request will be declined. Users see directed to contact the seller for additional information.

It is unclear whether the policy affects Xiaomi’s devices that have already been activated in an approved territory and are being used in these regions. The new enforcement goes at the heart of the reselling syndicate. Resellers thrive on their ability to provide functional devices in jurisdictions where the manufacturer is yet to have a presence. However, these syndicates may not take this at its face value, as they may go the whole hog to crack the devices to gain access to the prohibited regions.

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(source, via)

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