Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 Pro has been selling like hot cakes in India ever since it was first unveiled in the country over two months ago. However, Xiaomi has been unable to meet the demand of the device as it still remains incredibly difficult to buy more than two months after its release. Now, in a bid to help improve the supply of the handset, Xiaomi will be importing a “significant amount” of PCBAs for the Redmi Note 5 Pro from China.
Xiaomi says that ramping up the PCBA production India, where the company has multiple factories, will only occur by CY Q3 2018. Thus, to ensure that the Redmi Note 5 Pro stock issues don’t last until then, the company is importing more PCBAs from China. However, due to the recent hike in the import duties from the Indian government and the depreciation in Rupee value, Xiaomi has been forced to increase the price of the Redmi Note 5 Pro by Rs 1,000. This means the 4GB RAM + 64GB variant of the handset will now retail for Rs 14,999 instead of its previous price of Rs 13,999. The price increase will be effective from May 1 2018. Xiaomi says that it will honor all pre-orders of the Redmi Note 5 Pro placed until today with the older price. Xiaomi says that with the increase in production capacity, it is hoping to produce 1 million Redmi Note 5 Pro units every month. Additionally, Xiamoi is also importing “significantly more TVs” to meet the demand of the Mi LED TV 55-inch. But once again, due to the hike in the import tax structure, the company is being forced to marginally increase the price of the TV by Rs 5,000 to Rs 44,999 from 1 May 2018.
Our Take
A Rs 1,000 hike for the Redmi Note 5 Pro is unlikely to anger a lot of users if Xiaomi is actually able to improve the availability of the handset with this move. However, a Rs 5,000 hike in the price of the 55-inch Mi TV is definitely on the higher side especially when you consider the fact that plenty of other 4K TVs are now also available in the market with a similar or lower price tag.
