OnePlus 16 could be the latest RAM price victim and this shows the whole industry is in trouble — here's why

It feels like just about everything is getting more expensive at the moment, and that's probably because most things are — especially phones and other gadgets. Sadly, it seems like another phone brand could fall victim to the ever-increasing cost of entry, with a leaker claiming the OnePlus 16 could be getting a price hike.

This comes from Digital Chat Station (DCS) over on Weibo, with what they openly admit is a "bold prediction." According to the leaker, the next flagship phones from OnePlus, iQOO and Redmi will all start at 5,000 CNY when they arrive later this year.

That price works out to about $725 if you convert directly. This doesn't seem too bad at first glance, but you have to bear in mind that Chinese phones typically cost more in international markets. For reference, the OnePlus 15 starts at 4,000 CNY in China, so an increase to 5,000 CNY means a 20% price hike.

Since the OnePlus 15 starts at $899 / £899, applying the same price increase could mean the phone might cost somewhere in the region of $1,078. While I suspect OnePlus would pick a slightly more sensible and rounded price tag than this, such as $999 or $1,099, a price hike is still a price hike. None of us wants this, but we shouldn't be all that surprised either.

A sign of things to come

The cost of phone production has been on the rise for the past few years already, and the AI-induced RAM shortages are only making that worse. Samsung has already revealed that Apple has agreed to a 100% price increase on its future RAM purchases, and few companies have the same buying and pricing power that Apple does.

RAM prices are going to have a much bigger impact on other tech companies, to the point where some analysts believe RAMageddon could kill the budget Android phone market. The problem won't be going away until next year at the earliest, and I wouldn't be surprised if problems continued through 2027 and beyond.

Which means the majority of phones will be getting these troublesome price hikes in the coming years. We probably shouldn't expect prices to come down if RAMagesdon ever ends either, because when has that ever happened?

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