It’s the same old phone with a new name & fatter price tag

New Delhi: Smartphone brands are reintroducing existing budget phone models, giving new names to justify the higher prices, seeking to offset adverse forex rates and sharp increase in component costs, said industry executives.

Brands are keeping most of the core specifications unchanged in the new models, with only minimal tweaks to the battery or display while charging 50-60% more due to higher component costs. In some cases, specifications are also being downgraded from their predecessors despite the higher price tags.