- Xiaomi, Huawei, and Honor all at once raised prices for dozens of models in China.
- Behind it is a global shortage of memory chips—RAM and NAND.
- Huawei Mate 80 saw the biggest price increase, by as much as 17%.
- Honor Power 2 is up to a fifth more expensive than in previous weeks.
The three biggest Chinese smartphone brands have just raised prices for their models in China, and almost at the same time. Xiaomi, Huawei, and Honor all cite almost the same reason: rising component costs. Behind it lies something that the entire tech industry has been feeling in recent months: the biggest memory chip shortage in years. We looked at how much individual models have gotten more expensive, converted the amounts into euros, and found out how strongly the price hikes are also affecting the European market.
The price hikes are driven by a RAM shortage
The cause is not a one-off manufacturing issue, but a longer-term trend. Demand for memory chips has surged due to the needs of AI data centers, which pour huge sums into them. RAM and NAND manufacturers prefer to supply large customers in the cloud business rather than smartphone brands. The result is a shortage of components that almost all phone makers are feeling at once.
Web Xiaomiui.net was the first to summarize what all three brands said about the reasons behind the price hikes. Xiaomi explained the increase with rising procurement costs for key components. Huawei says practically the same thing, specifically adjusting prices due to the market price of key materials. Honor framed the reason more generally, as adjusting prices based on current market demand. In all three cases, it’s actually the same underlying problem: a higher price for memory chips that companies can no longer afford to keep absorbing in their own margins.
Xiaomi is raising prices for the 17 series—also for Redmi
Xiaomi has adjusted prices across the entire Xiaomi 17 series. The base Xiaomi 17 now costs 5,099 ¥ instead of 4,799 ¥, which at the current exchange rate is an increase from about €612 to €650 (+€38, +6.3%). You’ll pay similarly more for Xiaomi 17 Pro (from about €688 to €726) and Xiaomi 17T (from about €420 to €446). The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max flagship increased the most in absolute terms—from 6,499 ¥ to 6,999 ¥, i.e., from about €828 to €892 (+€64, +7.7%).
The price hikes didn’t spare the cheaper Redmi lineup either. Redmi K90 Ultra went up from 3,299 ¥ to 3,699 ¥ (from about €420 to €471, +12.1%), and Redmi K90 Max from 3,499 ¥ to 3,899 ¥ (from about €446 to €497, +11.4%). In percentage terms, this is a bigger jump than with the flagship lineup—exactly in line with what analysts are reporting this past month about the impact of the RAM shortage on cheaper phones.
Huawei is raising prices the most: Mate 80 and Enjoy 90 Pro Max
Of the three brands, you’ll pay the most extra for Huawei. For the Huawei Enjoy 90 Pro Max model, the increase is still relatively moderate. The base 128GB version went up from 1,699 ¥ to 1,899 ¥—from about €216 to €242 (+€25, +11.8%). The flagship Mate 80 series, however, got noticeably more expensive.
The base Huawei Mate 80 in the 12/256 GB configuration got more expensive from 4 699 ¥ to 5 499 ¥ (from about 599 € to 701 €), which is an increase of 102 € and a full 17%. Similarly, several hundred euros (even if at a lower percentage due to the higher base price) went up for the Mate 80 Pro and Mate 80 Pro Max variants as well. For example, the top Mate 80 Pro Max 16/1TB went up from 8 999 ¥ to 9 999 ¥, i.e., from about 1 146 € to 1 274 € (+128 €). Among the three brands, Huawei has raised prices the most aggressively.
Honor: Magic 8 is mild, Power 2 up to a fifth
For the Honor Magic 8 series, the price increase is relatively restrained. The 12/256GB version rose from 4,499 ¥ to 4,799 ¥ (from about €573 to €611, +6.7%), while the best-equipped 16/1TB version went from 5,499 ¥ to 5,999 ¥ (from about €701 to €764, +9.1%).
The biggest jump among all the models in this roundup is surprisingly in the cheaper Honor Power 2. Its 12/512GB version increased from 2,999 ¥ to 3,599 ¥—from about €382 to €459. That’s a rise of €76 and a full 20%, i.e., higher in percentage terms than any flagship model from Xiaomi, Huawei, or Honor.
Europe is feeling the price pressure too
It’s not just the Chinese market. According to the analytics company Counterpoint Research, the global average selling price of a smartphone in Q4 2025 crossed the $400 threshold for the first time in history, up 8% year over year. GSMArena also cited Counterpoint’s estimate: in 2026, manufacturing costs for cheaper phones increased by as much as 25% compared to the start of the year, for mid-range models by 15%, and for premium models by 10%. The same pattern can be seen in this overview: the cheaper the model, the higher the percentage price increase.
Even the European market feels the pressure of rising memory chip prices. According to a Q2 2026 report, the total smartphone market in Europe fell by roughly 10% year over year, while Apple benefited the most thanks to ample memory chip stocks for years ahead. Chinese manufacturers, on the other hand, work with thinner margins and have to pass cost increases to prices faster. The Slovak market is specific in that a large share of Chinese phones comes to us via importers directly from China or from EU warehouses—so rising Chinese price tags will sooner or later show up in the offers we regularly track here.
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