Chinese brand Xiaomi is known for its products that are priced affordably and offer great value without compromising too much on any aspects like build or specifications. However, in a surprising move, the company has announced price hike for two of its products that were launched back in February this year – the Redmi Note 5 Pro, and, the Mi LED TV 4 55-inch smart TV.
Mi fans! In order to ramp up supply for #RedmiNote5Pro & #MiTV4 (55), we're marginally increasing the prices. This is because of the recent changes in PCBA import taxes & INR depreciation.
This will help us bring more units to all of you!
Read more: https://t.co/T6aykphV0q pic.twitter.com/3NrgS4sxFd
— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) April 30, 2018
The Redmi Note 5 Pro comes in two variants – 4 GB RAM and 6 GB RAM. The 4 GB RAM variant was launched with a price tag of ₹13,999 in India whereas the 6 GB RAM variant costs ₹16,999. Speaking about the Mi LED TV 4 55-inch, it debuted in the country carrying a price tag of ₹39,999.
Well, the price of Redmi Note 5 Pro 4 GB RAM variant in India has been increased by ₹1000, with the Mi LED TV 4 55-inch costing ₹5000 more. This means you will now have to shell out ₹14,999 to buy the Redmi Note 5 Pro 4 GB RAM variant, and ₹44,999 to buy the Mi LED TV 4 55-inch in India.
The reason for this price hike of Redmi Note 5 Pro 4 GB RAM variant and Mi LED TV 4 55-inch in India is cited as “recent changes in PCBA import taxes & INR depreciation”. To be more precise, Xiaomi is facing huge demand for these products in India, and in order to meet this demand, the company is importing PCBAs for the Redmi Note 5 Pro as the local production could only hit 100% by CY Q3 2018.
Xiaomi is also importing more TVs to India to meet the demand, and, the company is facing import taxes and rupee depreciation issues here as well, as a result of which the price of Mi LED TV 4 55-inch has gone up.
Having said that, as this price hike is a result of more demand than supply, we hope that Xiaomi will soon sell these products at their original prices once the demand-supply ratio is in control.
The Redmi Note 5 Pro 4 GB RAM variant will be available for purchase from May 1, 2018 through Mi.com, Mi Home stores, Flipkart, as well other offline stores across the country. The Mi LED TV 4 55-inch will also be available for purchase from May 1, 2018 through Mi.com, Mi Home stores and Flipkart.
With that being said, it now makes sense to buy the 6 GB RAM variant of the Redmi Note 5 Pro that’s priced at ₹16,999, instead of buying the 4 GB RAM variant which now costs ₹14,999. Moreover, it will also be interesting to see how the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro now stacks up against the recently launched ASUS ZenFone Max Pro M1 which offers similar specs and a larger battery at a lower price.
