Almost every other smartphone in India saw a hike in their prices in April due to the increase in GST on smartphones from 12 percent to 18 percent. Not only big brands such as Apple or Samsung, but even smaller manufacturers and budget devices got a pull-up in their prices. And yet again, Realme and Xiaomi have elevated the costs for a few of their entry-level smartphones.
Talking about Realme, the company’s entry level Realme C3, which was priced at Rs 7,499 for the 3GB/32GB variant, is now priced at Rs 7,999 while the top 4GB/64GB model, which was priced Rs 8,499, is now listed at Rs 8,999. On the other hand, its predecessor, the Realme C2 price in India, which started at Rs 6,499 for the 2GB/32GB variant, is now listed for Rs 6,999 in India. These new, hiked pricing can now be seen on Flipkart and realme.com.
Also Read: GST Council Imposes Higher Rates On Mobile Phones, Effective From April 1st
On the other hand, Xiaomi’s Redmi 8, which was earlier available for Rs 8,999, got a price hike of Rs 300, bringing its price to Rs 9,299 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage variant. The Redmi 8A, which was previously available for Rs 6,999, is now listed at Rs 7,299 (2GB RAM + 32GB inner storage). The Redmi Note 8, also saw a revision in pricing as it is now available for Rs 11,499 (4GB variant) compared to the earlier pricing of Rs 10,999.
Also Read: Xiaomi & Realme Updated Price List After GST Rate Increase In India
The Covid-19 pandemic which led to a nation-wide lockdown has hit adversely on the manufacturing and supply chain of smartphones, which is surely a contributing factor to the increase in prices of even budget devices. This is ironic as it was earlier expected that smartphone brands would be offering some attractive deals in order to boost their product sales post lockdown.
Also Read: Smartphone Brands Could Devise Strategies To Push Sales When Coronavirus Epidemic Subsides
