Xiaomi Mi 10 price in India might disappoint fans: Expect 'different pricing model'

Xiaomi India's MD Manu Kumar Jain took to Twitter on Thursday to adjust some expectations on the Mi 10's pricing in India. The Chinese smartphone maker launched the Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro in China at an aggressive price point, which got fans in India excited. But it looks like the Mi 10 would be dearer when launched in India as the company head warns of a "different pricing model."

Xiaomi was expected to debut its Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro phones at the MWC 2020 in Barcelona later this month. But the entire event got cancelled over Covid-19 fears, which puts Xiaomi's plans in flux. The company hasn't revealed details on the global launch of Mi 10 series, but Jain announced on Twitter that "we're working hard to give you all first access to cutting edge smartphone technology in India."

Going by Jain's comments, we can assume India launch to be sooner than later. The Mi 10 will certainly set a benchmark for flagship smartphones and put up a tough fight against Samsung's newest Galaxy S20 series.

In China, the Mi 10 series' pricing is as follows:

Mi 10

• 8GB+128GB: 3,999 Yuan (approx. Rs 41,000)
• 8GB+256GB: 4,299 (around Rs 44,000)
• 12GB+256GB: 4,699 (roughly Rs 48,000)

Mi 10 Pro

• 8GB+256GB: 4,999 (around Rs 51,100)
• 12GB+256GB: 5,499 Yuan (approx. Rs 56,300)
• 12GB+512GB: 5,999 Yuan (around Rs 61,400)

At these price points, Xiaomi is certainly going to grab a lot of attention from premium smartphone buyers who will naturally be checking out Samsung's Galaxy S20, S20+ and S20 Ultra, which would easily cost upward of Rs 70,000 going all the way to Rs 1 lakh depending on the model and variant. In that standpoint, even the high-end variant of the Mi 10 Pro wouldn't be as expensive as the base variant of the Galaxy S20 - the entry-level flagship in the 2020 lineup.

Mi 10 price in India

Xiaomi Mi 10 and Mi 10 Pro could compete against the Galaxy S20 series with a pricing advantage, but we are assuming this based on the phones' price in China. The Indian pricing of the new Mi phones would be different and if Jain is to be believed, fans might be in for some disappointment.

"Making such a device requires state of the art facilities, which are not available in India. We will have to import 100% of units if we launch the Mi10 in India. Hence, it will have a different pricing model than usual," Jain said in a tweet on Thursday.

Jain doesn't directly say how much extra consumers might have to pay for the imported Mi 10 phones in India, but it certainly won't be equivalent to China pricing.

Learning from the past

By setting the expectations, Xiaomi doesn't want another pricing controversy like the one it faced during the launch of Redmi K20 last year. A lot of fans were disappointed by Redmi K20's pricing in India, to which Jain had to write an open letter defending the pricing decision. The company even blamed fake social media accounts for inflating criticism around the Redmi K20 pricing.

By accepting well in advance that the Mi 10 won't have the usual pricing model, Xiaomi is setting the record straight. The company might surprise its fans with an aggressive pricing model, but that's a surprise for another day. For now, the company is playing it safe.

Covid-19 impact

Due to Covid-19 outbreak in China, Xiaomi has increased the price of its popular model, Redmi Note 8, in India. The price hike is assumed temporary and caused due to the disruption in imports of components from China. The China supply chain has been affected the worst as a result of Covid-19 epidemic. By increasing the price, Xiaomi is trying to cover the expense at these trying times.

"The extended shutdown in China is likely to have an impact on our Supply chain and, there is a risk of impact on the 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. This has led to an increase in the price of the product temporarily."

That said, Xiaomi has accepted that it will import 100 per cent of Mi 10 units from China due to the lack of facilities available in India to produce the new flagships. It remains to be seen how the Covid-19 widespread in China would impact imports of Mi 10 and its effect on the pricing. Stay tuned for updates.