Redmi K40 hype train gains speed as Lu Weibing reveals thick and thin boxes for the upcoming flagship killer

The Redmi K40 and Redmi K40 Pro should be launched in February, and Redmi’s general manager Lu Weibing has been drumming up interest in the forthcoming potential flagship killers on his Weibo social media account. He posted a photo of two Redmi K40 boxes that are distinctly different in size, with one of the boxes looking almost twice as thick as its thinner counterpart.

It doesn’t take too much detective work to conclude that Redmi is likely following Xiaomi’s lead with the Mi 11 by removing the charger and associated cable from some Redmi K40 boxes, thus continuing the company’s drive to cut down on electrical waste and packaging. It’s possible future Redmi K40 buyers will be able to select either the environmentally friendly standard version or plump for the “package edition” that comes with a free charger.

Only a small percentage of Xiaomi Mi 11 buyers went “green”, with the firm’s CEO, Lei Jun, revealing that 20,000 customers opted for the charger-free option out of 350,000 first-day sales. That’s 5.7% of the total not requiring a free charger. It might seem like a pointless exercise at a first glance, but Xiaomi and Redmi sell millions of smartphones, and it is likely that the percentage choosing the eco-friendly option will grow with each release.

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