In The Wake Of Import Duty Hike, Xiaomi Increases Redmi Note 5 Pro, Mi LED TV 4 Prices

Xiaomi on Monday (30 April) announced an increase in the price of their smartphone Redmi Note 5 Pro and smart television Mi LED TV 4 (55-inches) in India.

Xiaomi claimed that due to recent changes in the tax structure on PCBA imports and depreciation of Indian Rupee has resulted in a significant increase in costs for them. 

PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly) is one of the most important components of the smartphone, and contributes to nearly 50 percent of the value of the phone.

Right now, almost every smartphone brand imports the components from foreign countries and assemble them in India. Due to unavailability of sufficient Redmi Note 5 Pro units in the market, Xiaomi is planning to ramp up the supply which will be increased only if abundant amount of PCBAs are imported. 

As to support local manufacturing, Indian government has increased the import duty on smartphone components which is the exact cause of price hike.

Earlier this month, Xiaomi announced the opening of their local PCBA  manufacturing unit at Chennai. Xiaomi expects to ramp up its PCBA production to close to 100 percent of its locally produced phones within Q3 CY 2018.

The prices of Redmi Note 5 Pro (4GB RAM) and Mi TV 4 have been increased by Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000, respectively, with effect from Tuesday (1 May).  

After the new prices, Redmi Note 5 Pro and Mi LED TV 4 will now be available at Rs 14,999 and Rs 44,999, respectively. However the price 6GB RAM variant of Note 5 Pro have not been increased and will remain the same as Rs 16,999.

The company also says that customers who had earlier pre-ordered Redmi Note 5 Pro (4GB RAM) on Mi.com at original price of Rs 13,999 won’t pay the extra 1,000 bucks.