Xiaomi Increases Phone Prices to Counter 50% GST Hike; Effective from Today

Apr. 1, 2020

If you’ve been keeping up with the latest updates, you would know that the goods and services tax (GST) on mobile phones washiked from 12% to 18%in India in March. It comes as a huge blow for phone makers and Xiaomi seems to be the first one to have announced a price hike for its entire portfolio.

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke as many Mi fans suspect. This is 100% real. Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jaintook to Twitterlast night to break this news. The caption of his tweet, as you can see below, read –“After much deliberation & in keeping with #Xiaomi policy of maintaining <5% margin on our hardware products, we will be increasing prices of our products.”

What does this mean for you? Well, all of your favorite Xiaomi, Redmi, as well as Poco phones, are going to be more expensive going forward. The company is yet to update its official website but the newer prices for some phones have already gone into effect on e-commerce platforms. You cannot place an order due to the ongoing lockdown in India but yeah, the updated prices are live on Flipkart.

Thenewly launchedRedmi Note 9 Pro that was launched starting at Rs. 12,999 back in March now starts at Rs. 14,999 for the 4GB+64GB base variant. The Redmi K20 series receives a huge price hike as well. Redmi K20 and K20 Pronow start at Rs. 21,999 and Rs. 26,999 respectivelyas opposed to Rs. 19,999 and Rs. 24,999 that the base variants were selling for.

In addition, Xiaomi’s sub-brand Poco has alsoconfirmedthe price hike in a letter on Twitter. Poco X2 today received a price hike whereas there’s no word on the Poco F1. Poco X2 debuted starting at Rs. 15,999 but its 6GB+64GB base variant is now selling forRs. 16,999 over on Flipkart. The 6GB+128 and 8GB+256GB variants will now cost Rs. 17,999 and Rs. 20,999 respectively.

The increased tax rate on smartphones can be seen as a regressive move and one that stands opposed to the digital revolution that India may have been looking forward to. Apart from Xiaomi, it’s currently rumored that Oppo has hiked phone prices by 5% to balance the effects of the new GST rate.

Editor’s Note: Updated to include Poco’s price hike confirmation. Tweet attached and new pricing info included.