Right after the Diwali sale ended on Flipkart, Realme, the sub-brand of Oppo has increased prices of its two smartphones by up to Rs 1,000. The smartphones in question are the Realme C1 and Realme 2. While the Realme C1's price in India has been bumped by Rs 1,000, the Realme 2's base variant receives a price hike of Rs 500. Earlier, Realme confirmed that it would hike the prices of its smartphones thanks to the depleting rupee against US Dollar. Notably, Realme did not increase the prices of Realme 2 Pro and Realme 1 smartphones which will come as a relief for many out there, but the price of the 2 Pro could the increased very soon as the CEO already hinted it.
Realme 2 and Realme C1: New Prices in India
The Realme 2 was launched first as a Flipkart exclusive in two variants- 3GB+32GB and 4GB+64GB. The base variant was originally priced at Rs 8,999, but it's now available for purchase on Flipkart at Rs 9,499. So a Rs 500 price hike. Thankfully, Realme did not hike the price of the 4GB+64GB variant of Realme 2 and it's still available at Rs 10,990.
Coming to the Realme C1, this phone was launched in only one variant with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage. That said, the price has been increased by Rs 1,000 and the phone can be purchased for Rs 7,999 starting today. To recall, while launching the Realme 2 Pro and Realme C1 in September, the company said the Realme C1's price of Rs 6,999 would be an introductory one during the festive season. And as it hinted, Realme increased the price. The Realme C1 will now compete with the likes of Xiaomi Redmi 5 and Asus Zenfone Max M1.
Realme 2 Pro and Realme 1 Prices Remain the Same in India
As we reported a couple of days ago, Realme is looking to increase the prices of its smartphones because of the plunging rupee against the USD. Realme's best phone yet, the Realme 2 Pro did not receive any price hike as of now and the phone still starts at a price of Rs 13,990 for the base variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. On the other hand, the Realme 1, which was the company's first smartphone available on Amazon did not receive any price hike too. Realme is still selling the 4GB+64GB and 6GB+128GB variants of the Realme 1 in India and they're available for purchase at Rs 10,990 and Rs 13,990 respectively.
Realme Operates With Very Small Profit Margin
We all know Xiaomi's business model and how it manages to keep the prices very aggressive. Realme also has a similar business model as it makes very minimal profits from hardware. Now with the rupee falling down against the US dollar, it's getting very tough for brands to keep the same prices. When Realme launched the Realme 2, Realme 2 Pro and Realme C1, the Indian rupee was around Rs 70 against US dollar, but now, it has been increased to around Rs 73.
Even Xiaomi might hike prices of its newly launched Redmi 6 devices in India.
