Oppo and OnePlus to Increase Prices for Budget Devices Starting March 16

Oppo has announced plans to raise prices on certain budget devices in China, including OnePlus smartphones, commencing on March 16 at 12 AM local time. All OnePlus models sold in China, as well as the Oppo A and K series, will be affected by this price increase.

Currently, the Reno and Find series smartphones, along with Oppo tablets, will not see any price hikes. These devices represent the brand's higher margins, making it logical for them to remain unaffected for the time being.

While Oppo has not provided an official rationale for the price increases or specified the extent of the hike, there is speculation that this move is linked to the growing demand for memory chips from AI data centers. These centers have become lucrative clients for memory chip manufacturers, who are shifting their production focus from DRAM and NAND flash chips, commonly used in smartphones, to HBM (high-bandwidth memory) essential for AI applications.

This shift is raising costs for smartphone memory, which in turn will likely lead to increased smartphone prices, particularly for the more budget-friendly models that already operate on lower margins. According to IDC, memory semiconductors now contribute over 20% of smartphone production costs, up from a previous range of 10% to 15%. For entry-level devices, this figure could be as high as 30%.

Via