Realme may be forced to increase smartphone prices post Diwali reveals CEO

Oppo offshoot Realme, a company which has quickly grown in popularity in India, mostly due to its aggressive pricing and wafer-thin profit margins, will likely raise the price of its smartphones after Diwali.The news was made clear by the CEO of Realme, Madhav Seth in a tweet where he blames the falling Rupee, forcing the company to rework the pricing of their phones. Seth does not explicitly say that the prices of all Realme phones will definitely see a hike but does mention that the company will have to "upgrade the pricing" in order to continue to be in business.[caption id="attachment_5105891" align="alignnone" width="1024"]

Realme 2 is one of the best phones you can buy under Rs 10,000 right now. Image: tech2/ Prannoy Palav[/caption]A company which began business in India as recently as May with the launch of the Realme 1, has already launched four smartphones at different price points and has gained a lot of popularity among the masses. However, with the Rupee touching an all-time low of 74.22 per US dollar in early October, things do not appear to be ideal for the company.

As per a report by Canalys, Realme's sales number are quite healthy. Being an online-only brand as of now, the company shipped as many as 80,000 units in the last quarter.Having launched the Realme 2 Pro, the company's flagship offering which starts at Rs 13,990, sales are expected to rise further. Alongside the launch of the Realme 2 Pro, we also saw the launch of its latest entry-level offering, the Realme C1 which starts at Rs 6,999.If you are planning to buy a Realme smartphone before Diwali, however, you are assured that the increase in prices will happen after that. As for the hike in prices, we will keep you updated as and when it happens.