[News] Meizu Reportedly Scraps Meizu 22 Air as Memory Costs Drive Price Hikes Across Chinese Brands

Memory price increases are prompting smartphone makers to adjust their production plans. According to South China Morning Post, a global memory chip shortage has led China’s DreamSmart Group to cancel a planned handset launch, with the company confirming that its Meizu brand has scrapped the Meizu 22 Air, a slim model positioned similarly to Apple’s iPhone Air.

The cancellation underscores broader strains in the global memory supply chain, as leading manufacturers prioritize capacity for customers tied to surging AI chip demand, the report notes. Chinese outlet Dahe Fortune Cube cites DreamSmart Group CMO Wan Zhiqiang as saying that memory now accounts for more than 34% of total costs in mid- to low-end smartphones—far higher than the roughly 14% seen in high-end models.

Rising Memory Costs Lift Smartphone Prices

A wave of smartphones launched since October last year has seen price increases, Dahe Fortune Cube reports. The starting price of the standard Realme GT8 rose by RMB 300 versus its predecessor, while the iQOO 15 posted a RMB 200 increase. The vivo X300 and OPPO Find X9 also recorded starting price hikes of RMB 100 and RMB 200, respectively.

By contrast, higher-end smartphones have shown greater ability to absorb rising memory costs. As highlighted by Dahe Fortune Cube, the Huawei Mate 80 series launched on November 25 saw lower starting prices for both the standard and Pro models compared with the previous generation, with the base model’s starting price down by RMB 800.

Smartphone Makers Adjust Specs Amid Rising Memory Costs

Some Chinese smartphone brands are also adjusting specifications to offset rising costs. Diankeji reports that Honor has dropped the entry-level 8GB+256GB version of its latest Honor Power 2, leaving only 12GB+256GB (RMB 2,699) and 12GB+512GB (RMB 2,999) variants—both priced RMB 500 higher than comparable configurations in the previous generation.

Meanwhile, 21jingji notes that meaningful profit margins are increasingly concentrated in devices priced around RMB 2,000 and above with higher memory configurations. The outlet adds that 2026 could prove a challenging year for the low-end smartphone market, particularly for brands focused on the RMB 1,000 segment, as they face mounting pressure from both rising costs and market competition.

Memory supply is tightening as capacity shifts toward AI and server applications. TrendForce notes that DRAM suppliers in 1Q26 will continue to reallocate advanced process nodes and new capacity toward server and HBM products, significantly limiting supply in other markets and pushing conventional DRAM contract prices up by about 55–60% QoQ.

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(Photo credit: Meizu’s Facebook)