At a time when brands are looking to refresh their older models with new iterations, Xiaomi is on a price hike spree in India. In fact, not just Xiaomi, others like Realme and Samsung have also increased prices of many of their models in the recent month. The company’s spin-off brand Redmi has increased the price of its six-month-old Redmi Note 8 yet again. The device will sell for a starting price tag of Rs.12,499.
The price hike, as reported by 91Mobiles, has already started reflecting on its own mi.com and its partner Amazon India. Further, retail sources have also said that the offline market has updated the price of the device from Saturday. This includes the exclusive and retail partner stores in India.
The new change marks yet another Rs.500 price increase of the handset. The base variant 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is now retailing for Rs.12,499. The good news, however, is the higher 6GB RAM/128GB variant has not received a hike. This time it continues to sell for Rs.14,499.
Value for money proposition that didn’t last long
The device, which launched along with the Redmi Note 8 Pro back in October in India. Back then, it was very well priced. However, it didn’t last long. And it all began with the changes in the regulations of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in India. This along with factors such as COVID-19 made things worse.
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Following this, Xiaomi had hiked the price of the handset twice in April and it was sitting at Rs.10,999 as we approached May. But the device had fallen into the trap of Price increase yet again and this time it was joined by handsets like the Redmi 8, and 8A dual.
Spree of price hikes
If we recall, companies were struggling to meet demands during Q2 of 2020 with disrupted supply chains due to the shutdown of factories. They had to obey the guidelines of the lockdown and the added burden of limited labour made their days darker and they struggled to meet the target. This could be one of several reasons behind the unexplained prices.
While the initial price hikes were understandable considering all these factors, Xiaomi went a step ahead and hiked the price of the Redmi Note 8 for the second time within a month. By the end of May, the device was retailing at Rs.11,999 for the 4GB/64GB variant.
The new price cut means the base variant, which had great specifications like Snapdragon 665, FHD+ display, 48MP quad-cameras for the launch price of Rs.9,999, will now retail at a whopping Rs.2,500 more.
