Huawei Signals Moderate Phone Price Increases as Memory Costs Rise

Shenzhen, 2 October 2026 – Huawei plans to raise smartphone prices moderately as higher memory-chip costs squeeze margins, adding to evidence that the global component shortage is reaching consumers. Richard Yu, head of the company’s consumer business, told reporters in Shenzhen that the average cost of a Huawei handset had risen by about US$200, although he did not specify the comparison period. That qualification matters: the figure describes a reported cost increase, not an announced retail price rise of the same size.

The company’s response highlights an increasingly difficult trade-off for smartphone manufacturers. Absorbing a sharp increase in memory costs protects unit demand but compresses profitability. Passing it on preserves margin per device but risks slower sales, particularly in lower-priced segments where a modest absolute increase can be a large share of the purchase price. Huawei appears to be positioning its premium product range as better able to withstand that pressure.