China’s smartphone prices are rising, with increases set to be the biggest the industry has seen in five years.
The story hit the top trending search lists on social media just after the Spring Festival holidays. Major brands like OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi (小米), and Honor (荣耀) have said prices will increase from this month, by anywhere from 1,000 to 3,000 RMB for mid-to-high-end models. But proportionally, budget devices will be hit hardest — what Chinese consumers call "sub-1,000 RMB devices" (千元机).
This sudden surge in prices is being driven by the massive investment in data centres to increase AI computing power across China. The industry-grade chips needed for these facilities are more profitable than smartphone chips. So as demand from the AI sector has exploded, the supply of chips for consumer electronics, such as for smartphones, has tightened and pushed prices up.
According to some reports, the cost of smartphone memory chips has risen by more than 80% compared to the same period last year. While the cost of 1TB of phone storage has nearly tripled in the space of a year — from around 200 RMB to close to 600 RMB.
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China’s smartphone market is broadly divided into three tiers: manufacturers with supply chain advantages, Huawei, Apple, Samsung, which dominate the market. The four major domestic brands — Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Honor — with mature product offerings and bargaining power, holding the middle ground. And small manufacturers like Meizu (魅族) with under 1% market market which are facing being squeezed out entirely this year.
Huawei is better insulated than most with its self-developed SoC chips and in-house R&D capabilities. Domestic memory chip suppliers have also historically tilted supply towards Huawei because of its sheer buying power — something we’ve seen in the auto industry with BYD.
“Right now, many phonemakers are struggling not just with rising costs, but with total supply shortages where money alone can’t guarantee inventory.
In contrast, Huawei continues to secure its supply with relative ease.”
“现在很多厂商面临的不只涨价，还有‘有钱拿不到货’的情况，但对华为来说，拿货还是比较轻松的。”
From an industry perspective, chip prices are becoming increasingly volatile which is changing behaviour across the supply chain. Distributors who once stocked inventory to drive sales are now hoarding handsets, betting on price rises to profit from the appreciation.
For consumers, this means higher prices and a touch of irony.
The latest smartphones need more memory than ever to support new AI features, such as AI assistants like Alibaba’s Qwen (千问). Yet it's the AI industry itself that's driving up chip costs and pushing new phone prices out of reach. The result is consumers are turning to slightly older flagship models instead, which is also pushing up second-hand prices.
This is having a direct impact on people’s livelihoods, as one delivery rider explains in an interview in one of the articles we read this week:
If I upgrade to a flagship model that costs around 4,000 yuan, it could help me take 3-5 more orders daily, which can give my monthly income a 800-900-yuan bump.
But I don’t have 4,000 yuan.
So I’m trapped in a vicious cycle of low efficiency and low income. I can’t afford a good phone which means I’m even more inefficient in my job. [3]
假如换一部4000元左右的“高端机”，每天可以多接3—5单，月收入增加约800—900元，但是我拿不出这4000元，只能继续用旧手机，陷入低效率—低收入—买不起好手机—更低效率的恶性循环里。[3]
So how is this going to play out for Chinese consumers?
That’s what we’re exploring this week!
Favourite Five
1. 内存 nèi cún
memory, ram
内存涨价趋势将持续至2026年下半年 - Memory prices are set to trend upwards well into the second half of 2026. [1]
2. 话语权 huà yǔ quán
have a say, bargaining power
内存厂商现在话语权极高，已经采取“虚拟定价”方式 - Memory chip manufacturers now wield extremely strong bargaining power and have already shifted to the “post-settlement pricing” model. [1]
Related:
定价权 dìng jià quán - pricing power
3. 涨价潮 zhǎng jià cháo
wave of price hikes
手机涨价的根源，是由内存的“超级周期”凶猛涨价潮导致 - The root cause of the current spike in smartphone prices is the aggressive memory supercycle and its accompanying wave of price hikes. [1]
4. 岔路口 chà lù kǒu
fork in the road, crossroads
这里出现了第一个关键的技术岔路口 - The first critical technological crossroads has emerged. [4]
5. 罪魁祸首 zuì kuí huò shǒu
chief culprit, main offender
罪魁祸首：存储芯片疯狂上涨 - The real culprit behind rising phone prices: skyrocketing memory chip costs.
🎧RTM Podcast Preview
This week on the RTM Advanced podcast, we explain the many confusing and simialr ways to say “price hikes” in Chinese.
Tune in at 6 minutes where we break down what they mean and the stories behind them…
How native speakers use them…
And how you can use them in real conversations right now and show off your amazing Chinese!
Consuming the Conversation
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Consuming the Conversation
Useful Words
6. 涨幅 zhǎng fú
increase range, rate of increase
最低涨幅不会低于1000元，中高端旗舰机型涨幅可能达到2000~3000元 - The minimum increase will not be less than 1,000 yuan, and the price increase for mid- to high-end flagship models may reach 2,000 to 3,000 yuan. [1]
Related:
提价 tí jià – raise prices
调价 tíao jià - adjust prices
涨价 zhǎng jià – price increase
普涨 pú zhǎng - broad price rises
7. 回落 huí luò
fall back, decline
内存涨价趋势将持续至2026年下半年，到2027年才有望逐步回落 - Memory prices are set to trend upwards well into the second half of 2026, and will gradually fall only from 2027 onwards. [1]
8. 国补 guó bǔ
national subsidy, government subsidy
2025年下半年发布的新款则基本只享受国补，没有其他优惠 - New models released in the second half of 2025 will only have the government subsidy, with no other discounts. [1]
9. 旗舰 qí jiàn
flagship (model)
厂商们仍可以用高端旗舰的利润来覆盖一部分中低端机型造成的毛利下滑 - Manufacturers can still use the profits from high-end flagship models to offset part of the gross profit decline caused by mid- and low-end models. [1]
10. 阵地 zhèn dì
position, stronghold
中国厂商的主要阵地是200美元以下的低端市场 - The main stronghold of Chinese manufacturers is the low-end market below 200 dollars. [1]
Related:
阵营 zhèn yíng – camp, faction
11. 倒挂 dào guà
inversion, reversed relationship
存储成本甚至出现“倒挂”现象，如今12GB+256GB的物料成本，已超过2025年一季度16GB+1TB旗舰配置 - We’re seeing a “cost inversion” in memory right now, as the current material cost for a standard 12GB+256GB configuration is actually tracking higher than what we were paying for a top-tier 16GB+1TB flagship back in Q1 2025. [2]
12. 减配 jiǎn pèi
reduce configuration, cut features
厂商只能在提价与减配之间做选择 - Manufacturers can only choose between raising prices and downgrading configurations. [2]
Related:
降规 jiàng guī – lower specifications
降配 jiàng pèi – downgrade configuration
13. 困境 kùn jìng
dilemma, predicament
给手机厂商带来了前所未有的经营困境 - It has brought an unprecedented business predicament to smartphone manufacturers. [4]
