Vivo, iQOO Smartphones to Get More Expensive in China as Component Prices Continue to Rise: Report

The smartphone industry is in a state of flux. While the users continue to expect better value for their money, OEMs are struggling to grapple with the incessantly increasing prices of memory and storage components. Recently, various reports highlighted that many smartphone makers, including Samsung and Realme, are planning to increase the prices of their handsets in India to offset the increasing prices of DRAM and NAND sticks. Now, Vivo and its sub-brand iQOO have reportedly announced that they will increase the prices of their handsets across lineups in China, which is said to come into effect later this week. This comes soon after Oppo and OnePlus reportedly revised the prices of their phones in the country.

Vivo, iQOO Phones Could Get Expensive in China Starting March 18

According to a public letter shared (via GSM Arena) by user Zealer (translated from Chinese) on Weibo, the smartphone maker will increase the prices of the existing Vivo handsets in China. Moreover, the price tags of its sub-brand, iQOO, will reportedly also be revised upwards. The increased retail prices will reportedly come into effect on March 18 at 10:00 am local time (7:30 am IST). While the names of the models and lineups that are going to see a price raise was not revealed, the company said that the prices will be updated on its website for “specific models”.

In the letter, the smartphone maker reportedly said that the decision was taken because of the persistent increase in prices of semiconductors and memory components. This will help the tech firm in offsetting the rising manufacturing costs. However, Vivo and iQOO are not the only brands struggling to control manufacturing costs. The latest development is representative of an industry-wide trend, where many OEMs have been affected by the rising costs of acquiring components. Hence, Vivo and iQOO appear to be now joining other players in the market.

Before Vivo, two other Chinese tech firms revised the prices of their handsets. According to a report by Jiemian News, Oppo and OnePlus have increased the prices of their smartphones in China due to the same reason. However, the tech firm did not confirm the details of the report. The revised prices are expected to come into effect this week.

The rising prices of smartphones appear to be permeating other parts of the world. Recently, a report highlighted that the China-based tech firms, Vivo and iQOO, are planning to increase the prices of their Vivo T4 series and iQOO Z10 lineup in India. The mid-range phones will reportedly retail at up to a Rs. 2,500 premium in India, while offering the same hardware specifications and features.

The unprecedented rise in AI adoption has led to an increased demand for GPUs, NAND, DRAM, and other memory and storage components by the industry. To meet the rising consumer demand, heavily funded AI firms have started building more data centres to store training data and process information over cloud servers. Hence, component manufacturers have redirected the supply of memory sticks towards the new industry. Moreover, the OEMs have shifted their focus to producing high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sticks.