OPPO senior PR manager Cai Zuxuan says the latest round of smartphone price pressure comes down to something pretty simple: the cost of core components, especially storage costs and memory, keeps moving up. In his view, this isn’t limited to either midrange phones or flagships. It’s affecting the entire market.
Cai added that the trend hasn’t peaked yet. According to his comments, storage costs are still rising, which means upcoming phones could end up costing even more than the current generation. That lines up with a broader discussion now happening across several Chinese smartphone brands as they try to explain why aggressive hardware pricing is getting harder to maintain.
The discussion picked up right after the launch of the OnePlus 15T, a compact flagship announced on March 24. The phone features a 6.32-inch body, Qualcomm’s fifth-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and a 7,500mAh battery, with pricing in China starting at 4,299 yuan.
Some users argued that the new OnePlus model was priced too high for its segment. In response, OnePlus China president Li Jie said that view is based on a misunderstanding, adding that the current price is already extremely aggressive. He also suggested that once buyers see the updated memory procurement costs over the next few months, the current price may not look expensive at all. He even warned that future products may still need to go up in price under the new component-cost environment.
IT Home also listed the full domestic pricing structure for the OnePlus 15T. The 12GB + 256GB version is priced at 4,299 yuan, with a subsidy-adjusted price of 3,799 yuan. The 16GB + 256GB variant is 4,599 yuan, dropping to 4,099 yuan after subsidies. The 12GB + 512GB model is set at 4,899 yuan, with a subsidized price of 4,399 yuan.
For buyers who want more storage, the 16GB + 512GB version costs 5,199 yuan and falls to 4,699 yuan after subsidies, while the 16GB + 1TB model is priced at 5,699 yuan, with a subsidy-adjusted price of 5,199 yuan. Those figures matter because they show how brands are still trying to soften the hit through retail programs even as the upstream memory market becomes more expensive.
The source article also noted that China’s 2026 digital-device and home-appliance subsidy program is still active. Under the current policy, eligible phones, tablets, and other 3C products can receive an 85 percent subsidy rate, with discounts capped at 500 yuan for products priced below 6,000 yuan. That kind of support may help keep sell-through moving, but it doesn’t change the underlying message from OPPO and OnePlus: if component prices keep climbing, smartphone pricing is likely to follow.
