Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme raise phone prices post GST hike

Mobile phones in India have become costlier as several makers have increased prices post the implementation of the higher rate of goods and services tax from April 1.

The development comes after the GST council in its meeting held last month had raised the GST on mobile phones from 12% to 18%.

Mobile phone brands including Samsung, Oppo, Realme, Vivo and Xiaomi have increased the prices of their phones. Xiaomi India MD Manu Kumar Jain took to Twitter to announce their decision.

Mi fans, #GST on mobile phones has increased by 50% from 12% to 18%. After much deliberation & in keeping with #Xiaomi policy of maintaining <5% margin on our hardware products, we will be increasing prices of our products, he said.

Mi fans, #GST on mobile phones has increased by 50% from 12% to 18%.

After much deliberation & in keeping with #Xiaomi policy of maintaining <5% margin on our hardware products,we will be increasing prices of our products.

New prices will be effective immediately. Thank you! 🙏 pic.twitter.com/mdTqKdXm3r

— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) March 31, 2020

The new prices will be applicable across all Xiaomi brands – Mi, Redmi and Poco phones.

Realme and Vivo have also confirmed to Entrackr that they have increased the prices of their smartphones.

"Today we are announcing that Realme smartphones will have to boost the prices up for the first time since 2018. It’s never easy for Realme as a new brand to keep providing the latest technologies across different price segments in India," said Realme in a statement.

Apple, OPPO and Samsung have also followed suit. According to an ET report, Samsung has increased prices by up to Rs 6000 whereas Apple iPhones are now costlier by 5%.

Soon after the new GST rate was announced, industry bodies including ICEA and AIMRA had demanded an immediate rollback amid experiencing disruption due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Entrackr had reported earlier that mobile phones price will go up after the hike in GST as smartphone brands are in no position to absorb the increase due to the economic slowdown.