India has restricted imports of laptops, tablets and personal computers with immediate effect

[vivek.krishnan]

Dunno about importing new, but my vendor who imports refurbished laptops, has already informed me that prices will be shooting upwards till this clears up.

Secondly, this is actually needed to increase manufacturing in India. I have seen cost sheets of what it will cost to make an item in China and import it in India vs Make in India - worked for a company that makes engineering goods (outerbodies), amongst others. We do make feature phone bodies as well.

 

[BluDev]

Am sure the old lot here remembers a similar gamble in the past
India mobile manufacturing was zero
Everything was Imported
Then high duty regime began unless it was manufactured here
Same hullaballoo resulted

Now we manufacture phones worth $30 billion in India and export phones worth $10 billion
In 2014 we had 2 plants to make phones
Now we have 200

Just maybe this move may force more manufacturing in to our country, just a possibility it may work
Just my two bit

 

[6pack]

Am sure the old lot here remembers a similar gamble in the past
India mobile manufacturing was zero
Everything was Imported
Then high duty regime began unless it was manufactured here
Same hullaballoo resulted

Now we manufacture phones worth $30 billion in India and export phones worth $10 billion
In 2014 we had 2 plants to make phones
Now we have 200

Just maybe this move may force more manufacturing in to our country, just a possibility it may work
Just my two bit

Has the price of mobiles decreased or increased according to you? People knew prices would increase and they increased. The govt even mandated that phones below a certain amount couldn't be sold or something like that. The same thing is going to happen to computers like before.

Leave computers aside. You say there's 200 companies manufacturing phones now but why is duty still high on imports? Is the government still afraid that companies will shut down the manufacturing and import from outside?

Now back to computers and components. Do you think each and every computer components will be manufactured in India immediately in one month after this ban comes into effect and do you think the prices will remain high like this or go down?

You will end up paying the same amount or more than the amount of imported item with the 45% duty and customs fees and what not added even when it was assembled in India. Are you okay with such looting by the government of the land because ultimately most of the money will be made by the govt through taxes. If you think I'm wrong, explain why mobile prices are increasing.

 

[altair21]

Has the price of mobiles decreased or increased according to you? People knew prices would increase and they increased. The govt even mandated that phones below a certain amount couldn't be sold or something like that. The same thing is going to happen to computers like before.

Leave computers aside. You say there's 200 companies manufacturing phones now but why is duty still high on imports? Is the government still afraid that companies will shut down the manufacturing and import from outside?

Now back to computers and components. Do you think each and every computer components will be manufactured in India immediately in one month after this ban comes into effect and do you think the prices will remain high like this or go down?

You will end up paying the same amount or more than the amount of imported item with the 45% duty and customs fees and what not added even when it was assembled in India. Are you okay with such looting by the government of the land because ultimately most of the money will be made by the govt through taxes. If you think I'm wrong, explain why mobile prices are increasing.

are you sure thats not just the phone companies being greedy ****s? because afaik, the xioami, realme prices are pretty much on par with the Europe ones, also just checked the price of an iphone 14, it launched at 799$ in US and was sold at 80k in India from a quick google search, 799$ was roughly 64k back then, add 18%GST and it pretty much corresponds to the same price with a 2-3k difference. I am only talking about 14 because as far as I know, apple only made 14 in India, also 14 regularly dips below the 80k point in sales,
source for prices

EDIT: Xiaomi is actually cheaper here (compared the 13 pro's price)

 

[lockhrt999]

Now we manufacture phones worth $30 billion in India and export phones worth $10 billion

It doesn't work like that mate. We import spares worth $29.5 billion from China and elsewhere. Then we put Indian screws worth $0.5 billion. That makes it a $30 billion industry. Govt is still unable to provide world-class infra. Red taps are everywhere. Given the choice, and if there were no import restrictions, those 200 plants would never have been established.

Having a plant in India changes nothing for Indian consumers. We are not getting any discounts. Samsung S23 ultra costs 1.25 lakh in India whereas the same mobile in Dubai goes for 60k in INR.

 

[6pack]

are you sure thats not just the phone companies being greedy ****s? because afaik, the xioami, realme prices are pretty much on par with the Europe ones, also just checked the price of an iphone 14, it launched at 799$ in US and was sold at 80k in India from a quick google search, 799$ was roughly 64k back then, add 18%GST and it pretty much corresponds to the same price with a 2-3k difference. I am only talking about 14 because as far as I know, apple only made 14 in India, also 14 regularly dips below the 80k point in sales,
source for prices

EDIT: Xiaomi is actually cheaper here (compared the 13 pro's price)

I think the iPhone prices differ like that because they have different configurations for different countries. Some have one physical sim and one esim, some have only one esim, etc.

Let's go with your idea that phone companies are greedy. So similarly let's think that computer companies are greedy. The only thing that changes for us is we are always paying higher prices when we could have paid lower prices if there was no duty in the first place. Right? Even if duty was zero and only 18% GST was charged, govt still makes crores without doing anything.

Edit: forgot this. If the phone prices are at par, it means we are paying more doesn't it? Not like a billion Indians get payment like European do and Euro is lot stronger than the rupee.

 

[nRiTeCh]

we reacted too early without going in fine print of ban/law

Well, I think the harsh and my funny reactions paid-off! Either they noticed this or some informant /khabri here might have tipped them. Govt/Jio just got saved or should did I saved their @$ from getting publicly shamed...
But whats said remains as is for their future references..

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Has the price of mobiles decreased or increased according to you? People knew prices would increase and they increased. The govt even mandated that phones below a certain amount couldn't be sold or something like that. The same thing is going to happen to computers like before.

Leave computers aside. You say there's 200 companies manufacturing phones now but why is duty still high on imports? Is the government still afraid that companies will shut down the manufacturing and import from outside?

Now back to computers and components. Do you think each and every computer components will be manufactured in India immediately in one month after this ban comes into effect and do you think the prices will remain high like this or go down?

You will end up paying the same amount or more than the amount of imported item with the 45% duty and customs fees and what not added even when it was assembled in India. Are you okay with such looting by the government of the land because ultimately most of the money will be made by the govt through taxes. If you think I'm wrong, explain why mobile prices are increasing.

The line of price increase is entirely beyond reasoning. We still have phones at all price points. If you are expecting flagship phones at cheap prices like Mi3, that not going to happen. Look at OnePlus as well - they are equally expensive abroad as well. Also, remember that in USA, there is added taxes on top of price you see, depending on state as they follow MSRP. In India, its MRP and can be discounted downwards.

Duty is kept high to ensure that dumping wont happen.

Computer component manufacturing will not suddenly rise up automatically. But thats how things start. And dont tell BS like notice should have been given. Govt has been trying to get PLI working for this, but to no avail. Now that the companies know the govt is going to squeeze them, they will start. And BTW, the govt has not started increasing duties or anything yet. But will do soon for sure.

For the end user, it will not matter in the amount of money he or she spends. But it will encourage employment as well as make ourselves self sufficient. You need to understand that China will always be cheaper because of scale of economics - but does not mean we need to rely on them for everything.

For those thinking this is only being done by India, USA too is trying to get manufacturing come back there.

 

[altair21]

I think the iPhone prices differ like that because they have different configurations for different countries. Some have one physical sim and one esim, some have only one esim, etc.

Let's go with your idea that phone companies are greedy. So similarly let's think that computer companies are greedy. The only thing that changes for us is we are always paying higher prices when we could have paid lower prices if there was no duty in the first place. Right? Even if duty was zero and only 18% GST was charged, govt still makes crores without doing anything.

lets go ahead with your conjecture that we would end up paying the same price, and I would probably be called an andh bhakt or whatever but any manufacturing plant setup, especially on the scale of multinational companies end up creating tens of thousands of jobs in that area alone, just for that since we potentially wont end up paying anything extra, I would support this, we badly need the economy boost that these type of investments will provide, and you do need to notice the point that, all the components are imported in India for phones and they are only assembled here, so import duty on those components is still applicable and still we have cheaper phones than Europe if you discount apple (because let's be honest, world would come tumbling down if apple lowers the prices), and count companies like Xioami, realme whose phones are sold in Europe and are also assembled here, we are getting them for cheap.

P.S also if you want to take into account stuff like how iPhones differ, do also take into account that most phones sold in the US are network locked and that peeps get them for cheap because of trade-ins/contracts with ISPs, its actually really rare to get unlocked phones over there

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Having a plant in India changes nothing for Indian consumers. We are not getting any discounts. Samsung S23 ultra costs 1.25 lakh in India whereas the same mobile in Dubai goes for 60k in INR.

Where exactly can we get this for such a low price. Lowest I have seen is ~85K. And India price lowest i have seen is 1.07L after card discounts.

EDIT - we (my company) can claim GST so our price comes to around 90K plus GST and depreciation benefits YoY as the phones are used for business use.

 

[altair21]

The line of price increase is entirely beyond reasoning. We still have phones at all price points. If you are expecting flagship phones at cheap prices like Mi3, that not going to happen. Look at OnePlus as well - they are equally expensive abroad as well. Also, remember that in USA, there is added taxes on top of price you see, depending on state as they follow MSRP. In India, its MRP and can be discounted downwards.

Duty is kept high to ensure that dumping wont happen.

Computer component manufacturing will not suddenly rise up automatically. But thats how things start. And dont tell BS like notice should have been given. Govt has been trying to get PLI working for this, but to no avail. Now that the companies know the govt is going to squeeze them, they will start. And BTW, the govt has not started increasing duties or anything yet. But will do soon for sure.

For the end user, it will not matter in the amount of money he or she spends. But it will encourage employment as well as make ourselves self sufficient. You need to understand that China will always be cheaper because of scale of economics - but does not mean we need to rely on them for everything.

For those thinking this is only being done by India, USA too is trying to get manufacturing come back there.

agreed, I mean it sucks for us, I want so many things but cant afford them due to the taxes, but yea this is how it starts, peeps instead of looking at developed countries should look at south african countries like Nigeria, Kenya etc or even other not so developed Asian countries, they all have it even worse. I'm not in 100% agreement with this government, but yea we do need it as much as it sucks to admit it

 

[vivek.krishnan]

Well, I think the harsh and my funny reactions paid-off! Either they noticed this or some informant /khabri here might have tipped them. Govt/Jio just got saved or should did I saved their @$ from getting publicly shamed...
But whats said remains as is for their future references..

Right, and I am amitabh bachan on kaun karega MAKE IN INDIA

 

[TEUser2K1]

Having a plant in India changes nothing for Indian consumers. We are not getting any discounts. Samsung S23 ultra costs 1.25 lakh in India whereas the same mobile in Dubai goes for 60k in INR.

This is the situation India should be against, otherwise there is no point in local manufacturing than importing pollution, higher taxes and expenses.

 

[n1r0]

Govt to delay implementation of laptop and tablet import ban, to give transition period

 

[vivek.krishnan]

This is the situation India should be against, otherwise there is no point in local manufacturing than importing pollution, higher taxes and expenses.

Sorry, but we should try to do local manufacturing as much as possible because we have to survive. Today's jobs which are outsourced to us can be eaten away by other countries on lower costs.

In the grand scheme of things, this is cyclical. Every couple of years, outsourcing will be done and later, insourcing will be done, and vice versa.

 

[t3chg33k]

Has the price of mobiles decreased or increased according to you? People knew prices would increase and they increased. The govt even mandated that phones below a certain amount couldn't be sold or something like that. The same thing is going to happen to computers like before.

Leave computers aside. You say there's 200 companies manufacturing phones now but why is duty still high on imports? Is the government still afraid that companies will shut down the manufacturing and import from outside?

Now back to computers and components. Do you think each and every computer components will be manufactured in India immediately in one month after this ban comes into effect and do you think the prices will remain high like this or go down?

You will end up paying the same amount or more than the amount of imported item with the 45% duty and customs fees and what not added even when it was assembled in India. Are you okay with such looting by the government of the land because ultimately most of the money will be made by the govt through taxes. If you think I'm wrong, explain why mobile prices are increasing.

The price of mobile phones have increased globally, in part due to the greed of manufacturers who are seeing volumes decline in general due to the higher inflation. It is not specific to India.

I just purchased the Pixel 6a as a secondary phone which is made in Vietnam and effectively it cost less than the US MSRP of $299, so it is not as if imported units have disappeared and are not price competitive.

I believe this is not restricting individual PC components and neither is there any expectation that any significant parts will be manufactured locally. This is restricting completely built units from being sold directly and I am pretty sure a lot of Indian assemblers will turn up soon to cater to assembly of the units from different manufacturers. Manufacturing is the end goal and it will become feasible when local sourcing is cheaper but that will probably take decades and this is the first step to incentivize it.

 

[lockhrt999]

If people are suggesting this restriction isn't going to change anything and everything will remain normal as before then my question is why do we need this red tape license raj?

Now, are you going to suggest that govt want to make sure what computer parts are being imported from China and who is importing them?

We already know, who is importing what because it's publicly available in real-time. What more do the govt need?

There's more to these restrictions than what meets the eye.

Govt to delay implementation of laptop and tablet import ban, to give transition period

This is a sort of commie move they pulled with 20% TCS on non-INR spending.

This is how policies have been implemented lately,

Step 1: Govt have a policy to implement but they expect some backlash.​

Step 2: They'll change the policy into its worst version and impose that with no heads up. Now, they expect to receive more backlash. Bhakts will struggle to justify.​

Step 3: They let the worst version normalise.​

Step 4: Now, they will postpone the implementation.​

Step 5: The policy will also now be reverted back to its original intended version.​

Step 6: Coming from the worst version, everyone thinks they won and rejoice.​

​

Where exactly can we get this for such a low price. Lowest I have seen is ~85K. And India price lowest i have seen is 1.07L after card discounts.

It's 70k on amazon dubai. And Dubai refunds the VAT. So it comes to an even lower amount.

This is the situation India should be against, otherwise there is no point in local manufacturing than importing pollution, higher taxes and expenses.

No matter what the taxes are, Samsung or Apple will never reduce the prices because they are considered a luxury in India like Mercedes Benz. In the Gulf countries, everyone is rich and if you consider their per capita income, Apple, and Samsung devices are trash for them. So they are sold at a non-luxury value.

Your point about importing pollution is spot on. We have a small fraction of industry compared to China. And still, our cities are ranked some of the most polluted in the world. What will happen when we get more manufacturing industry set up their bases in India?

Never had I thought, I would need an Air Purifier. But for many Indian cities, it's a reality now.

 

[altair21]

The price of mobile phones have increased globally, in part due to the greed of manufacturers who are seeing volumes decline in general due to the higher inflation. It is not specific to India.

I just purchased the Pixel 6a as a secondary phone which is made in Vietnam and effectively it cost less than the US MSRP of $299, so it is not as if imported units have disappeared and are not price competitive.

I believe this is not restricting individual PC components and neither is there any expectation that any significant parts will be manufactured locally. This is restricting completely built units from being sold directly and I am pretty sure a lot of Indian assemblers will turn up soon to cater to assembly of the units from different manufacturers. Manufacturing is the end goal and it will become feasible when local sourcing is cheaper but that will probably take decades and this is the first step to incentivize it.

Exactly! peeps here are bemoaning about the end of the world and how BJP govt is the second coming of China, my question is how you even get companies to setup plants here unless you force them with tariffs/restrictions? we are one of the biggest consumer markets and allowing companies to import anything will just lead to market dumping. We need the economy boost that these plants will provide, even if was Congress, I would have supported this move, it was the same with mobiles or whatnot. In the end, companies did end up setting their plants here, and you can see the number of jobs they have created. which in turn will lead to higher spending potential and more demand for everything leading to higher sales/profits for companies. In the short term it absolutely sucks, but its needed in the long term

If people are suggesting this restriction isn't going to change anything and everything will remain normal as before then my question is why do we need this red tape license raj?

Now, are you going to suggest that govt want to make sure what computer parts are being imported from China and who is importing them?

We already know, who is importing what because it's publicly available in real-time. What more do the govt need?

There's more to these restrictions than what meets the eye.


This is a sort of commie move they pulled with 20% TCS on non-INR spending.

This is how policies have been implemented lately,

Step 1: Govt have a policy to implement but they expect some backlash.​

Step 2: They'll change the policy into its worst version and impose that with no heads up. Now, they expect to receive more backlash. Bhakts will struggle to justify.​

Step 3: They let the worst version normalise.​

Step 4: Now, they will postpone the implementation.​

Step 5: The policy will also now be reverted back to its original intended version.​

Step 6: Coming from the worst version, everyone thinks they won and rejoice.​

​

It's 70k on amazon dubai. And Dubai refunds the VAT. So it comes to an even lower amount.


No matter what the taxes are, Samsung or Apple will never reduce the prices because they are considered a luxury in India like Mercedes Benz. In the Gulf countries, everyone is rich and if you consider their per capita income, Apple, and Samsung devices are trash for them. So they are sold at a non-luxury value.

Your point about importing pollution is spot on. We have a small fraction of industry compared to China. And still, our cities are ranked some of the most polluted in the world. What will happen when we get more manufacturing industry set up their bases in India?

Never had I thought, I would need an Air Purifier. But for many Indian cities, it's a reality now.

thats just the population lol, why are you equating it with the govt? you wanna stop pollution? Impose population control measures but we all know how it will go, and fyi India is not even the most egregious of carbon emissions polluters.

P.S. about samsung/apples you are spot on, but that does not consist of the consumer market now does it? have not taken a look at the prices of a Motorola/realme/xiaomi? compare them with prices in Europe and see the difference.

 

[6pack]

The price of mobile phones have increased globally, in part due to the greed of manufacturers who are seeing volumes decline in general due to the higher inflation. It is not specific to India.

I think it's because of the chip shortage and China has put some export duty or has reduced chip exports since USA is putting restrictions on them in the chip manufacturing industry. These prices will go up higher and higher till there are new plants and that will take about 5-10 years if they start building them this year.

 

[t3chg33k]

I think it's because of the chip shortage and China has put some export duty or has reduced chip exports since USA is putting restrictions on them in the chip manufacturing industry. These prices will go up higher and higher till there are new plants and that will take about 5-10 years if they start building them this year.

That is a recent phenomenon though, the restriction on export of rare earth minerals due to the US-China trade wars and it will indeed have long-term consequences as alternate supply chains are established.

However, manufacturers started raising prices much before that, even when the supply chain stabilised a bit after Covid. Volumes will also keep falling with the higher prices. The silver lining, if any, is that Apple is now forced to look to the Indian market for volumes, so probably the premium segment will be more competitive.

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