China's three largest smartphone manufacturers raised prices by as much as 1,000 yuan (approximately $150) on Sept. 1, according to a report by Channel Insider published this week. Huawei, Xiaomi, and Honor increased prices across dozens of models ranging from mid-tier devices to premium flagships. The procurement cost for a 12GB+256GB memory configuration has surged from roughly 500 yuan ($74) one year ago to 2,200 yuan ($327), forcing manufacturers to either absorb the hit, pass costs to buyers, or redesign how their products are built and sold.
Huawei implemented some of the steepest increases, raising the Mate 80 by 800 yuan ($119) across all storage options, while the Mate 80 Pro and Mate 80 Pro Max each jumped 1,000 yuan (around $150). The 16GB+1TB version of the Mate 80 Pro Max now costs 9,999 yuan, positioned just beneath the 10,000-yuan mark. The Enjoy 90 Pro Max increased by 200 yuan, with its 128GB variant climbing from 1,699 yuan ($253) to 1,899 yuan ($283), IT Home reported. Xiaomi pushed the Xiaomi 17 up by 300 yuan (roughly $45) to 5,099 yuan (approximately $757), while the 17 Pro rose to 5,699 yuan (about $848) and the 17 Pro Max reached 6,999 yuan ($1,041). Selected Redmi K90 and Turbo 5 Max models also saw hikes. Honor lifted the Power 2 by 500 to 600 yuan and boosted Magic 8 prices by 300 to 500 yuan.
BigGo Finance reported that smartphone memory prices climbed more than 80% quarter over quarter in the second quarter, citing Counterpoint Research data. Customer service representatives from all three brands confirmed the increases to BigGo Finance, with Huawei pointing to elevated costs for critical components, Xiaomi attributing the changes to rising procurement expenses, and Honor saying it adjusted pricing based on market conditions. Seoul Economic Daily noted that AI infrastructure demand is intensifying the pressure, as data centers consume growing volumes of memory and storage parts, tightening supply and driving up costs for consumer-electronics makers. Qualcomm's planned September chip price increases, expected to hit double-digit percentages, are adding another layer of cost pressure that leaves manufacturers with fewer ways to absorb higher component bills.
The report suggests this isn't a short-term pricing adjustment but rather a potential shift in how Chinese phone makers structure their product lines. With consumers already showing weaker replacement demand, manufacturers can't indefinitely raise prices without risking sales volume, yet absorbing the full cost increase would crush margins. The more viable path may be steering customers toward higher-priced models where component costs represent a smaller share of the retail price. Xiaomi's second-quarter smartphone average selling price hit 1,351 yuan ($201), up 25.9% year over year, while devices priced at 3,000 yuan ($446) or above made up 32.1% of mainland China shipments, BigGo Finance reported. This creates an unusual market tension: AI is fueling memory demand, but the resulting shortage is making AI-capable smartphones costlier precisely when buyers are growing more cautious.
For shoppers, the immediate implication is that steep smartphone discounts may become less common, especially on models with larger memory and storage setups, the report notes. How long elevated pricing persists depends largely on whether memory supply eases and how much of any eventual cost relief manufacturers decide to return to consumers. Xiaomi President Lu Weibing has cautioned that memory costs are likely to stay high even if the rate of increase moderates later this year. The danger for phone makers is that while higher prices can safeguard profitability, they can also dampen already-soft demand. If memory prices eventually fall, manufacturers may resist lowering phone prices back to previous levels, particularly if they can exploit the disruption to cement a more premium market stance. Channel partners and resellers face a tightening window: component inflation rarely reverses quickly, and brands emerging from this cycle with stronger pricing power may choose not to relinquish it.