Xiaomi has announced a rise in the prices of its popular products, the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Mi TV 4 to keep up with the higher costs and high demand. Now, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is more expensive at 1,000 rupees, while the 55-inch Mi TV 4 is more expensive at 5,000 rupees.
According to Xiaomi, the price increase is due to multiple factors ranging from high demand to a new structure tax that imposes a 10 percent tax on imports of PCBA. Xiaomi says it can increase local PCBA production by 100 percent through 3Q 2018, and as such, it has to import a "significant number" of PCBAs.
In addition, the depreciation of the INR by almost 5 percent since the beginning of this year has also affected Xiaomi's costs. These three factors together would have increased Xiaomi's labor costs and to compensate for them, the company has announced a rise in the prices of two of its popular products.
New prices applicable from May 1
Xiaomi has announced that the new prices will increase as of May 1 on Mi.com, My Home stores and Flipkart.
After the price increase, the Redmi Note 5 Pro 4GB variant will cost 14,999 rupees, while the 6GB variant will still be available at Rs 16,999. The Mi TV 4 55-inch HDR 4K will now cost 44,999 rupees, above its original price of 39,999 rupees.
Prices may drop later
While Xiaomi has not commented on whether the prices of Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi TV 4 could go down in the future, the company has revealed that local production of PCBAs will increase by a 100 percent for Q3 of 2018. This could reduce Xiaomi's PCBA imports, and there are chances that the company can pass on the benefit of reduced costs to its customers.