Xiaomi Raises Smartphone Prices Amid Surging Memory Chip Costs

Xiaomi has announced price increases for several smartphone models, attributing the adjustments to a sharp rise in memory chip costs. The company stated that prices for three models would rise by approximately 200 yuan (US$29), with the changes taking effect next Saturday. This move follows similar increases by domestic competitors such as Oppo, Vivo, and Honor in March.

Xiaomi cited "continued sharp increases in the prices of key components such as memory chips" as the reason for the price hike. Lu Weibing, president of Xiaomi's smartphone business, noted that memory prices for comparable configurations had surged nearly fourfold from a year earlier.

The price increases reflect a broader trend in the consumer electronics industry, where tightening supply and rising memory costs are driving up prices for smartphones and personal computers. Manufacturers are prioritizing capacity for the growing demand in artificial intelligence applications, leading to supply constraints. Chipmakers have struggled to expand output quickly, while upstream costs—including chemicals, metals, energy, and freight—have climbed amid geopolitical tensions, fueling a wider round of price rises across the semiconductor industry.

According to a recent TrendForce report, conventional dynamic random access memory (DRAM) contract prices are expected to climb 58 to 63 percent quarter on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, while NAND flash prices could jump 70 to 75 percent, driven primarily by demand from AI and data centers.