Soaring memory and storage chip prices are likely to push major Chinese smartphone brands to raise handset prices in early March, according to supply chain sources. After bottoming out in the second half of 2024, prices for mobile memory and storage chips have risen for several consecutive quarters, with gains accelerating at the start of 2026, the sources said. Procurement costs for smartphone memory chips are now more than 80% higher than a year earlier and show no signs of easing.
Channel partners and original design manufacturers (ODMs) said leading brands including Oppo, OnePlus, Vivo, Xiaomi, iQOO and Honor are preparing a new round of price adjustments. If implemented, it would mark the industry’s broadest and most significant collective price increase in nearly five years. Frequent fluctuations in memory costs could result in multiple handset price hikes in China within a single year for the first time. [China Star Market, in Chinese]