Realme increases prices of smartphones after GST hike

Smartphones in India are set to now cost more with increased GST and a weak Rupee to US Dollar rates. The government of India has decided to increase the GST on smartphones from 12% to 18% starting April 1, 2020. After Xiaomi, Samsung and Oppo announced a price hike, Chinese smartphone brand Realme too announced that it will be increasing prices of its handsets.
“The recent COVID-19 pandemic has highly impacted the smartphone industry, leading to a price hike of components and supply shortage. Further, the Indian Rupee rate has been continuously fluctuating and facing depreciation currently. This has impacted the overall cost of the smartphone device, therefore many smartphone brands have already increased the price of smartphones in 2019 and 2020. Despite all these issues, realme hasn’t increased the price of our smartphones since H2 2018,” said Realme in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted the mobile phone ecosystem globally and India. This has put serious pressure on mobile phone brands due to the irregular supply of components and support from the supply chain in China, South Korea and elsewhere. Furthermore, this pandemic has also resulted in foreign exchange fluctuation and a recessionary climate, though brands have not calibrated the pricing due to this uncertainty so far. That’s why we have seen some leading brands already considering price hikes in 2020,” said Neil Shah, vice president, Research at Counterpoint.