Get ready: Xiaomi warns of a ‘considerable increase’ in smartphone prices next year

Xiaomi president warns smartphone prices could rise significantly
This is due to the rising cost of memory chips
Memory price would affect all phone brands, not just Xiaomi

If you thought smartphones were expensive today, you might be in for a shock next year, because according to Xiaomi President Lu Weibing, their prices could see a “considerable increase.”

This claim was made during an earnings conference call (via PK Press Club), with the reason given being the rising cost of memory chips.

You see, memory chips are currently in high demand, because they are used in artificial intelligence servers, so the prices of memory chips are skyrocketing, and this will also affect the price of memory used in phones.

Given that this claim about rising smartphone prices comes from Xiaomi’s president, we can be almost certain that Xiaomi’s next phones will cost more than they otherwise might have – so, for example, next year’s Xiaomi 18 series could be extremely expensive.

The Xiaomi 18 Pro series could be even more expensive than the Xiaomi 17 Pro range (Image credit: Xiaomi)

A problem for everyone

But this isn’t the only problem Xiaomi will face: the entire industry will have to deal with rising memory prices, which will likely either lead to higher smartphone prices or lower profits for companies if they don’t pass the costs on to consumers.

Since most companies are not known for wanting to sacrifice profits, we can assume that in most cases there will likely be price increases. This means that big-name handsets like the Samsung Galaxy S26 series and iPhone 18 range could also cost more than their predecessors.

Indeed, the South Korean publication Chosun recently reported that a price increase for the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra was expected. Regardless, News Pim claimed that the base model Galaxy S26 would not see a price increase – but that this would be achieved by reversing course on some planned upgrades. So that’s another possibility: we’ll see more modest improvements than usual next year in order to keep prices at current levels.

None of these options sound great, so for now we suggest saving up if you plan to upgrade your phone next year – or waiting a little longer and hoping the price of memory chips drops again.

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