Xiaomi Raises Phone Prices Third Time This Year as Memory Costs Bite

Xiaomi's Third Price Round of 2026: Model-by-Model Changes and the Memory-Chip Driver

On August 2, Xiaomi raised prices on most of its current smartphone lineup, pushing increases of 300 to 500 yuan across the Xiaomi 17 series and the Redmi K90 family. The Xiaomi 17 now lists at 4,799 yuan, the 17 Pro at 5,399 yuan and the 17 Pro Max at 6,499 yuan, while the Redmi Turbo 5 was raised from 2,299 yuan to 2,599 yuan. The Xiaomi 17 Ultra was left unchanged at 6,999 yuan. It is the company's third round of price increases this year.

Xiaomi attributes the moves to soaring memory chip costs. Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing has said the handset industry is facing its toughest period in nearly a decade, with what he described as runaway cost increases. Market trackers cited in the report underline the scale: Counterpoint Research says smartphone memory prices rose more than 80% quarter on quarter in the second quarter of 2026, while TrendForce puts cumulative spot-price gains for DRAM and NAND flash at more than 300%.

The increases are not unique to Xiaomi. OPPO, OnePlus and vivo began adjusting prices in March, with vivo's iQOO flagships up by 400 to 1,000 yuan per round, OnePlus' 15 series up 1,100 yuan and OPPO's Find N6 foldable launching 1,000 yuan above its predecessor. Huawei has raised prices on its smart collaboration hardware, and Lenovo has set a new round of adjustments, extending the cost pass-through beyond phones into PCs and office equipment.

The timing is awkward for Xiaomi. IDC data show China smartphone shipments fell 4.3% year on year in the second quarter, with Xiaomi down 21.7% — the deepest decline among the top five vendors. Omdia put Xiaomi's global shipments at 31.2 million units in the quarter, down 26% year on year and the second consecutive quarterly drop. Despite that, Xiaomi has raised its 2026 shipment target to about 110 million units from roughly 90 million, leaving the company trying to raise prices and chase higher volume at the same time.

Why Memory Costs, Not Demand, Are Now Setting Xiaomi's Pricing

Why Memory Has Become the Binding Constraint

The price list shows the mechanics of the cost shock. If memory component costs have climbed by roughly 1,500 yuan for a 12+512GB configuration versus the first quarter of last year, a 300-to-500 yuan retail increase does not fully recover that gap for the configurations most affected. The gap is wider for 16+1TB versions, where the report indicates even larger increases. That suggests manufacturers are absorbing part of the cost surge rather than passing all of it to consumers, which puts downward pressure on gross margins across the Android supply chain.

Xiaomi's Volume Target Collides With Its Redmi Pricing

Xiaomi's raised target of 110 million units for 2026 was set before this third price round. The models most affected — Redmi K90 and Turbo — are exactly the products that drive unit volume in China, and their buyers tend to be the most price-sensitive. IDC data already show Xiaomi's China shipments falling 21.7% year on year in Q2, the worst of the top five, so the company is asking its price-sensitive base to absorb another increase during the August low season. The contradiction between higher prices and a higher shipment target defines the strategic risk: if volumes miss, average selling prices will have to do more work for revenue.

An Industry-Wide Pass-Through Still Spreading

Xiaomi is late rather than alone in raising prices. The article points to a broad inflationary wave across Chinese Android vendors since March, with the sharpest increases in the domestic high-end segment: iQOO configurations up by 400 to 1,000 yuan in a single round, OnePlus 15 models up 1,100 yuan, and OPPO's Find N6 up 1,000 yuan at launch. The spread of increases to Huawei's collaboration hardware and Lenovo's PCs suggests the memory cycle is now affecting adjacent hardware markets. That makes this less a Xiaomi-specific problem and more an industry-wide margin event, in which the main question is how much demand price increases destroy across the entire Android ecosystem.

What the Price Rise Means for Xiaomi's Target, Margins and Rivals

For investors and industry participants, the practical questions follow directly from the numbers above:

• Treat Xiaomi's 110-million-unit 2026 shipment target as conditional, not committed: IDC's Q2 reading showed China volumes down 21.7% before the August 2 price rise took effect, and the Redmi K90 and Turbo lines that carry volume now carry higher tags.
• Assess Xiaomi's next earnings report against the cost gap: with 12+512GB storage costs up roughly 1,500 yuan versus the first quarter of 2025 and retail increases of only 300–500 yuan, gross margin is the key number to watch.
• For Android competitors, the price umbrella has already opened: OPPO, vivo, OnePlus, Honor and Huawei have all announced increases, so any vendor that can hold memory costs through supply agreements or product mix can gain share without starting a price war.
• Track memory spot prices monthly — TrendForce's 300% cumulative DRAM/NAND gain and DRAMeXchange's record $20 DDR4 reading provide the benchmark; a plateau would end the pass-through cycle, while another leg up would likely trigger a fourth round before the year-end sales season.