No Relief On Smartphone Sales Amid Lockdown; MHA Changes Guidelines

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued new guidelines on April 19, 2020 (Sunday), where it has restricted the sale of non-essential items from e-commerce portals. This means that Amazon and Flipkart are not allowed to sell smartphones and other electronic items until further notice.

The new guidelines come at that time when smartphone makers like Xiaomi and Realme were planning to resume their services from April 20. In fact, Realme was planning to launch its new Narzo 10 series on April 21 in the country.

"Realme was planning to start online sales of its smartphones from April 20 and launch its Narzo series on April 21 through e-commerce platforms. But bearing in mind the current order from MHA, we are evaluating the situation, and decision about the launch of the much-awaited Narzo series and online sales of our other smartphones will be made by tomorrow," Realme CEO Madhav Sheth was quoted by Economic Times.

The Narzo series was supposed to launch in March. But, the company postponed the launch due to a nationwide lockdown. The company is likely to launch two smartphones. If we talk about the specification then, the Narzo 10 is expected to have a quad-camera setup at the back, while the Narzo 10 A is likely to have a triple- camera module. The smartphones are likely to feature a 6.5-inch display and 5,000 mAh battery. The upcoming smartphones are likely to be priced under Rs. 15,000, and will be available on Flipkart.

Xiaomi Suspends Online Selling Of Smartphones

Similarly, Xiaomi was also planning to sell its smartphone via Flipkart and its website Mi. com. However, now the company has also postponed the online sales. The company's managing director Manu Jain has shared this information via his official tweeter account.
The tweet reads: "Dear All, we have just received an update from the MHA suspending e-commerce for non-essential items, affecting our decision about operating Mi.com from tomorrow."

Both Realme and Xiaomi had asked the ministry to consider smartphone under essential items, and allow an e-commerce portal to deliver the devices. In fact, India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) had written a letter to the ministry to consider the same.