Overview
- Multiple Chinese brands have raised retail prices on existing phone models at the start of September, citing rising component costs for the adjustments to in‑market inventory and listings.
- Huawei led the moves with the largest increases reported, for example raising Mate 80 series prices by about 800–1,000 CNY, while other brands posted smaller, but broad, uplifts.
- Industry research shows memory prices jumped sharply in Q2 and are expected to stay high, and wafer costs for next‑generation 2nm chips are materially higher, which suppliers say is squeezing margins and forcing price passes to consumers.
- Xiaomi confirmed a Sept. 7 autumn event where it will unveil the Xiaomi 18 Fold that it says will first ship with its in‑house 玄戒 O3 AI SoC and LPDDR6 memory, and dealer leaks place the foldable’s starting price near 12,000 CNY.
- Brands are responding with mixed strategies: launching overseas POCO variants to widen revenue, stocking premium devices to protect margins, and staging a dense September release schedule that may delay cheaper replacements and raise short‑term costs for buyers.