Smartphone prices have increased by 70% since January

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The prices of smartphones in Sri Lanka have increased by 70% to 100% over the past few months.

In January this year, an android smartphone was priced from Rs. 20,000/- updates, however, the prices have now increased.

"The lowest original phone is around Rs. 50,000/-. There is no phone available for less than that," said one trader.

"A phone that was sold for Rs. 3,300/- is now over Rs. 8,000/-. The prices increased since March. Back then, people did not buy phones with keypads. The demand has dropped," said another.

Import restrictions and taxes that were imposed due to the economic and forex crisis had attributed to the price hike in mobile phones.