- Xiaomi will raise retail prices for some smartphone models on April 11, starting with three Redmi devices.
- Chinese tech peers including Lenovo, Vivo, and Oppo have already hiked prices amid AI-driven component shortages.
Xiaomi announced it will raise the retail prices of select smartphones, becoming the latest tech giant to hike prices in response to the sustained surge in global memory chip and other key component costs.
The price increases will initially affect three smartphone models — the Redmi K90 Pro Max, Turbo 5, and Turbo 5 Max — taking effect on April 11. The K90 Pro Max will see a price hike of 200 yuan ($29).
In addition, the Spring Festival discounts for the Redmi Turbo 5 and Turbo 5 Max will be canceled, though a 200-yuan subsidy for the 512-gigabyte high-memory versions will be retained.
Xiaomi had to adjust prices to ensure normal supply and stable product quality, as the momentum and magnitude of memory cost increases have far exceeded expectations, said Wei Siqi, general manager of marketing for Xiaomi's China region.
Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun warned last month that surging demand for artificial intelligence has led to a severe shortage of memory chips, putting immense pressure on the company's mobile business.
Xiaomi is not the only tech company feeling the chill from the supply chain. Lenovo recently issued price adjustment notices to offline distributors, with retail price hikes for some of its computer models exceeding 1,000 yuan.
Major competitors in the smartphone market have taken similar steps. Vivo and its sub-brand iQOO adjusted prices for some products in mid-March.
Meanwhile, retail prices for several popular older models from Oppo and its OnePlus sub-brand have also increased by 500 yuan.
The core driver behind this broad price increase across consumer electronics is the recent and continuous surge in the cost of key components, particularly memory and flash storage chips.
($1 = 6.8814 yuan)
