Oppo and OnePlus confirm the worst – smartphone prices are set to soar and you only have a few days until they do

The cost of RAM and storage has been soaring as demand for components to supply the growth of AI has outstripped supply. We've now seen more signs of how this will impact customers with a stark notice from Oppo and OnePlus.

The company has announced that prices will increase from 16 March because of the increased cost of components. That will see price increases on a number of Oppo and OnePlus models sold through the company's stores in China.

This is for devices that have already been released, but seems to be limited to the more affordable end of the range at present, likely because the margins are lower.

The details come from Gizmochina, sharing the notice from Oppo's store in China, which says:

"In response to rising cost of several key mobile phone components, including high-speed storage hardware, we have made the following decision after careful evaluation: starting from 0:00 on 16 March 2026, Oppo will adjust the prices of some of its already released products.

"Currently, the products affected by the price adjustment include the Oppo A series, K series, and OnePlus, but do not include the Oppo Find series, Reno series, and Oppo Pad series."

That means flagship buyers are likely to remain unaffected for now, while even the mid-range Reno escapes the price hike – so it's only those shopping for the cheaper devices that will see price increases.

Exactly how the price increases will impact on OnePlus remains to be seen.

It's also not clear if this is the start of something larger, because currently there's no sign of this warning on other sites: currently, many models in the UK are listed with a discount, for example.

The demand for components is expected to squeeze the smartphone industry and lead to price increases, which could in turn reduce the turnover of devices as customers choose to stick to their existing device – or buy a refurbished device instead.

It's previously been said that Apple is expected to keep prices stable so we shouldn’t see an increase in the iPhone 18 price, but one trend we're seeing in the industry is the dropping of lower storage models, like 128GB versions of some devices.

Currently, the expanding AI industry is snapping up hardware and that's putting pressure on companies across the electronics business. We've previously reported that Steam has said that its new hardware will be more expensive as a result, while Western Digital has that its entire 2026 hard drive stock has already sold out.