The jaw-dropping Xiaomi Mi MIX, with its edge-to-edge bezel-less display, will hit stores in China on Nov. 4. Xiaomi's calling it a "concept phone" at its core, despite the fact that the device will actually be sold, and not just the target of steady gawks of bystanders feeding off its eyecandy appeal.

The term "hunger marketing" denotes marketing practices by which a product with an overall attractive value and/or price point is brought out in limited supplies, thus creating artificial scarcity with the intent of boosting demand. The Xiaomi Mi MIX fits perfectly into the stereotype of a “hunger marketing” device, being a uniquely designed, high-spec'd smartphone with a premium build going for $500, but in this case, it really does seem likely that Xiaomi may not be able to produce the phone in big enough quantities, or at a big enough profit margin, to justify it being anything more than a “concept” at this point.

Early forecasts suggest that the Mi MIX will be sold out in the first six months of release since Xiaomi is hugely popular in China, comparable with Apple or Samsung's popularity in the United States.

"Regardless of the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus or Mi Note 2," Ma said, "my biggest takeaway from Xiaomi's recent high-end product launches is that they are trying really hard to show the world that they are not pigeonholed into just cheap phones. Competitive pressure from the likes of Huawei, Oppo and Vivo probably is a factor here too."