Explained: Why Xiaomi Phones Are Going To Get Costlier

Impacted by the rise of GST rate from 12 per cent to 18 per cent, Xiaomi has decided to increase the prices of its smartphone.

Customers inspect smartphones made by Xiaomi at a Mi store in Gurgaon. (Pic/AFP)

New Delhi, April 1: In a move that will upset Xiaomi fans, the company has announced a rise in the prices of its smartphones from Wednesday. The decision comes in the wake of the recent hike in GST rates on mobile phones from 12 per cent to 18 per cent that is slated to come into effect in the new financial year. The company has been forced to increase the prices to mitigate the effect of the rise in the GST rate, which means Xiaomi phones will no longer be cheaper. Even though the change in prices is yet to reflect on the company’s website, social media has observed the price rise in Redmi Note 7 including its sub-brand Poco selling its latest smartphone, the Poco X2, Rs 1,000 more than the launch price. The claims have been verified through the twitter update by Xiaomi Global VP and India head, Manu Kumar Jain. Jain confirmed the price hike and stated that the company’s policy to maintain less than 5 per cent profit margin has left no choice but to raise the prices.

In fact, the depreciation of Rupee against the US dollar is the other factor behind the price rise.  Customers can expect revision in prices of its newly launched Redmi Note 9 Pro, Redmi K20, and the Redmi Note 8 Pro. It is also expected to launch the Mi 10 series in India as the earlier plans to launch the phone on March 31 was shelved because of the COVID 19 pandemic. It is likely that other brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Realme might follow suit given the economic conditions due to COVID 19 pandemic.