Danny Weber
Xiaomi president warns rising memory costs may drive flagship smartphone prices above 10,000 yuan by 2026, signaling a major shift in the Chinese market.
Xiaomi president Lu Weibing has warned that some Chinese flagship smartphones could top 10,000 yuan (about $1,470) in the second half of 2026. He noted that even traditional slab phones without a folding design are inching toward a price point that recently seemed too high for the Chinese mass market.
The main driver, he said, is rising memory costs. Prices for DRAM and NAND have surged, making it harder for smartphone makers to absorb these expenses without passing them to customers. Xiaomi is already discussing pricing for future models as component prices remain volatile and could shift right up until launch.
Compounding the issue, ramping up memory production quickly isn't possible. Building a new fab takes years, while demand keeps climbing thanks to AI servers, data centers, and high-performance computing. Lu Weibing expects memory market pressure to last through at least 2028, not just 2027.
That makes the upcoming Xiaomi 17 Max all the more intriguing. Scheduled for a May launch, it's poised to be the company's flagship. Reports suggest it will pack a 6.9-inch screen, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a 200-megapixel Leica camera, and an 8000 mAh battery. All that hardware naturally drives up the price, and rising memory costs could push it even higher.
Xiaomi isn't alone. OPPO, vivo, and Honor are grappling with the same headwinds. If the 10,000 yuan threshold becomes the new normal for high-end phones, it would mark a major shift for a market where aggressive pricing and strong specs have long been the local brands' calling card.
© A. Krivonosov