Coronavirus impact: Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 price in India hiked

Coronavirus effect: Xiaomi seems to be the latest smartphone maker to have been hit by the coronavirus in China. The company has increased Redmi Note 8 price in India by Rs 500, saying that the decision was taken due to the impact on supply chain in China but added that the price hike is temporary. The smartphone should start selling on the earlier price when the cost of components stabilises.

The 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage model of the smartphone is now selling at Rs 10,499 on e-commerce platforms against its earlier price of Rs 9,999. Notably, the phone is currently out of stock on Amazon but will start selling soon.

"The extended shutdown in China is likely to have an impact on our Supply chain and, there is a risk of impact on overall quantum of component supplies. While we are working to explore alternative supply channels for components and raw materials, the immediate impact is that the short supply might cause some negative pressure on prices of these components," Xiaomi told Zee Business, in a statement.

This has led to the increase in the price of the product temporarily. We apologise for the inconvenience, it added.

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The company said that even though business is critical for it, human life is the biggest priority for the company. "We are continuing to adopt all measures to ensure the safety of our employees and partners and continue to evaluate the situation real time," it said.

However, the company will participate at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2020 and will also stick to its original schedule.

"With the continuing spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) pneumonia, we would like to inform our fans, media friends, partners and users that the health and safety of everyone is a top priority for all of us at Xiaomi. Also, we will attend Mobile World Congress Barcelona 2020 as planned, and launch our latest smartphones as well as a range of smart hardware," it said.

The company also detailed list of precautions it will take to ensure the safety of its employees and the visitors to its booth.