For a long time in the past, price increases were only a local phenomenon in the mobile phone industry, either a small increase in high-end flagship prices or a periodic cost adjustment.

But this year, this long-standing market logic has been completely broken.

A wave of almost indiscriminate price increases sweeping across the entire industry is spreading from high-end flagship models to mid-range and entry-level models, becoming the industry's recognized "most intense" round of price increases in the past five years.

And it is not an accidental market fluctuation, but an inevitable result that must occur under multiple pressures.

The most skyrocketing price trend in history

Unlike previous localized and scattered price increases, the mobile phone price increase in 2026 is a full brand linkage and full price coverage, which is extremely rare in the development history of the mobile phone industry.

According to media reports, OPPO、 One Plus vivo、 Xiaomi iQOO、 Honor and other leading domestic mobile phone brands have clearly planned to launch a new round of product price adjustments in early March.

This round of price adjustment not only covers all models on sale, but also involves new products to be released in the future, with both scale and price increase reaching new highs in nearly five years.

In fact, the arrival of this wave of price increases was already foreshadowed.

Multiple market institutions have already released clear signals of price increases in their previous forecasts.

According to Counterpoint Research data, the average price of mobile phones in the Chinese market is expected to increase by 6.9% in 2026, higher than the global average. Among them, the average price of new mobile phones released after March will increase by 15% to 25% compared to models in the same category in 2025, with particularly significant increases in mid to low end models.

IDC's forecast is even more severe, pointing out that by 2026, the flagship phone market in China will increase by more than 30%, and compared to models with the same configuration, it will be 300-1000 yuan more expensive by 2025. The price difference for large storage versions may even reach 2000 yuan; And for new products released after March, the price increase will further expand on this basis, and cost pressure has been fully transmitted to the end market.

The once popular "thousand yuan machine" is likely to gradually fade out of the market in this round of price hikes.

In fact, the prelude to price increases had quietly begun as early as October 2025.

Since then, mobile phone manufacturers have released new models with different configuration versions that have increased prices by 100 to 600 yuan compared to the previous generation. Among them, the starting price of the Redmi K90 series has increased by 100 yuan compared to the previous generation.

Entering 2026, the trend of price increases has not slowed down, but rather intensified.

Phoenix Finance's "Company Research Institute" has reviewed new phone models released in January and February 2026 and found that the starting price of many phones has increased by 200-500 yuan compared to the previous generation models.

Taking the Honor Power2 (12GB 256GB version) released on January 5th as an example, the starting price is 2499 yuan, while the previous generation model was priced at 1999 yuan.

The starting price of the vivo S50 series released during the same period is 2999 yuan, which is 400 yuan higher than the previous generation model. The starting price of the realme Neo8 is 200 yuan higher than the previous generation phone.

This fierce price change is no longer a simple market strategy adjustment, but a concentrated reflection of the underlying logic of the entire industry changing.

Why are mobile phones becoming more expensive as they sell?

Why are domestic mobile phones suddenly experiencing a surge in popularity? The culprit is the storage chip.

Since hitting bottom and rebounding in the second half of 2024, the prices of mobile phone memory and storage chips have maintained an upward trend for several consecutive quarters, and by 2026, the upward trend will significantly accelerate.

According to industry data, the price of general-purpose DRAM contracts is expected to increase by 55% to 60% month on month in the first quarter of 2026, and the price of NAND flash memory products will also rise by more than 30%. Among them, the price of consumer grade high-capacity QLC products will increase by no less than 40%.

Such a sharp price increase has directly pushed up the procurement costs of mobile phone manufacturers. According to industry insiders cited by the Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily, the procurement cost of smartphone storage chips has surged by over 80% compared to last year.

This round of price increases is not just a simple industry cycle fluctuation, but a profound structural change triggered by AI.

Global tech giants are crazily investing in AI infrastructure, leading to a surge in demand for high-end storage such as high bandwidth memory in data centers. For chip manufacturers, the profit from selling storage chips to AI servers is much higher than that from ordinary storage for mobile phones.

In order to pursue higher profits, storage chip manufacturers have tilted their production capacity towards AI servers. This "siphon effect" has squeezed the supply of consumer electronics products such as mobile phones, forming an imbalance between supply and demand.

Jibang Consulting estimates that AI and server related applications will account for 66% of the total DRAM production capacity by 2026. This also means that the memory of consumer electronics such as mobile phones will be in a tight state for a period of time in the future.

Faced with the skyrocketing prices of upstream raw materials, mobile phone manufacturers in the middle of the industry chain are experiencing profit squeeze.

Storage chips, as the core material of mobile phones, according to calculations by Qunzhi Consulting, the increase in storage prices in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter has led to an 8% to 12% increase in the overall BOM cost of mobile phones. Mid to low end models are most affected by the increase in memory prices, and some models have already experienced negative gross margins.

Data shows that the proportion of memory semiconductors in mobile phone costs has skyrocketed from 10% to 15% in the past to over 20%. For mid to low end models with already meager profits, the impact is particularly severe, with some thousand yuan phones even accounting for nearly 30% of storage costs, leading to a situation where products are sold at a loss.

Xiaomi Group President Lu Weibing has also bluntly stated, "The cost pressure from upstream is truly transmitted to our new product pricing," and said, "We cannot change the trend of the global supply chain, and the increase in storage costs is much higher than expected and will continue to intensify

After years of fierce competition, the hardware net profit of domestic mobile phones is generally within 10%. Xiaomi has also promised a comprehensive hardware profit margin of no more than 5%, leaving little room for manufacturers to absorb costs themselves.

Therefore, increasing the terminal selling price has become their most realistic choice between maintaining the market and sustaining survival.

Faced with the collective price increase of mobile phones, consumers' emotions are also very complicated.

Under the topic of mobile phone price increases, most of the high praise comments are "if the price increases, I won't buy it anymore. I can still use it for three years after sewing and repairing" and "continue to use it with a new battery".

Consumers are also seeking more economical solutions. According to media reports, there is a unique phenomenon of "reverse substitution" in the mobile phone market in county towns. With the same budget, instead of chasing new models, people buy the previous generation flagship models and exchange lower costs for a better experience.

The replacement cycle for consumers has been extended from 24 months in 2020 to 33 months in 2025. With the wave of price increases, the pace of changing phones may become even slower.

According to Interface News, due to the impact of upstream supply chain storage price increases, several mobile phone manufacturers have recently lowered their annual orders for complete machines in January 2026. Xiaomi and OPPO have lowered their orders by over 20%, Vivo has lowered their orders by nearly 15%, and Transsion has lowered their orders to below 70 million units. The models they have lowered are mainly focused on mid to low end and overseas products.

Now, the entire industry and consumers are adapting to this new cost structure. For manufacturers, this is a severe test related to supply chain management, inventory strategy, and even brand survival. Some second - and third tier brands may even face the risk of being eliminated in this round of reshuffle.