Oppo announced it will start raising prices on some of its budget phones in China. This change begins March 16 at midnight. The price increase will also include devices from its sister brand, OnePlus.
The announcement states that all OnePlus phones sold in China will see a price hike. It will also affect Oppo's A and K series phones. These are budget and mid-range phones. They target users looking for good value.
However, higher-end phones are not affected yet. This includes Oppo's Reno and Find series. Oppo's tablets also will not see a price increase. These premium products have higher profit margins for the company. This information comes from a report by gsmarena.
Memory Shortage Driving Price Hikes
Oppo has not officially stated the reason for the increase. They also have not shared the expected price jump. However, speculation points to rising costs for memory chips.
The big use of AI data centers has led memory makers to focus on High Bandwidth Memory (HBM). HBM is used in AI servers. This means less production of DRAM and NAND chips. These chips are used in smartphones.
Rising Phone Manufacturing Costs
This shift has increased the prices of memory chips used in phones. This puts pressure on phone makers. Price hikes are becoming almost necessary. This is especially true for budget phones with small profit margins.
Data from research firm IDC shows memory chips are now over 20% of a smartphone's manufacturing cost. Before, this cost was between 10% and 15%. For budget phones, memory can be about 30% of the total cost.
This suggests the phone market may see gradual price increases. This could happen if demand for AI components keeps growing.