Selling prices of high-end phones in Vietnam have increased

(Dan Tri) - The mobile device market in Vietnam as well as around the world is going through a period of unprecedented fluctuations when retail prices are continuously pushed up.

Compared to the same period last year, the cost of owning a smartphone has increased, especially in the high-end segment. This adjustment not only appears in newly launched product lines but also spreads to older generations.

High-end smartphones continue to increase in price

Apple is one of the brands that most clearly demonstrates the trend of increasing product prices. The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max duo have listed prices of 39 million VND and 42 million VND respectively for the 256GB version, an increase of 4 million VND compared to the previous generation.

The price of iPhone 18 Pro Max has increased compared to its predecessor (Photo: Doan Thuy).

The iPhone Duo also set an unprecedented high price when offered for sale with a starting price of 65 million VND. Even the most advanced version with 2TB storage capacity costs up to 104 million VND.

Notably, the wave of price increases does not stop at the latest models but also sweeps through the older product range. Since mid-September, Apple has simultaneously adjusted an increase of 2-5 million VND for iPhone 15, iPhone 16 and iPhone 17 versions on the online store as well as at authorized dealers.

Even models that were originally positioned in the popular segment like the iPhone 17e were pushed to 22 million VND. This adjustment leads to the fact that all genuine new iPhone models in Vietnam have a floor price of 20 million VND or more, completely eliminating the appearance of new low-cost iPhone models.

Talking to Dan Tri reporters, many dealers noted that the new floor price has created a large financial barrier for ordinary customers. This causes the purchasing power of older generation models to plummet and makes consumers more cautious in deciding to spend money.

After Apple, Samsung also started increasing phone prices in Vietnam in early October. Accordingly, all versions of the Galaxy S26 series simultaneously increased by 4 million VND compared to the opening price in March.

This price increase not only takes place in Vietnam but is also applied by Samsung in many other international markets. The increase in the price of the Galaxy S26 after many months of launch is considered a rare phenomenon, reflecting the cost pressure that the company is experiencing.

iPhone Duo is the most expensive iPhone ever sold in Vietnam (Photo: Engadget).

Besides the two giants Apple and Samsung, Chinese smartphone manufacturers such as OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi are also not outside the high-end smartphone race. Since the beginning of 2026, these brands have continuously brought high-end phones to the Vietnamese market.

Worth mentioning, the price of these products is even offered for sale up to 50 million VND, higher than the iPhone 18 Pro Max or Galaxy S26 Ultra. The appearance of Android phones at this price also contributes to establishing a new price level for the entire high-end mobile market in Vietnam.

Cause of price increase

The core reason leading to the current widespread price increase stems from the serious global memory chip shortage crisis. The supply of DRAM and NAND memory chips has become extremely scarce, causing the prices of these components to escalate at a dizzying pace.

According to a report from Counterpoint Research, in the second quarter alone, smartphone memory chip prices increased more than 80% compared to the previous quarter. Compared to the same period last year, the price increase in memory chip components has reached 200%. This has completely upset the cost structure of raw materials (Bill of Materials - BoM) of mobile manufacturers.

In the BoM structure of a high-end smartphone, the total component cost has increased by nearly 50% compared to the same period last year. Even the cost of DRAM memory chips has surpassed the central processor to become the most expensive single component inside a high-end phone.

For large NAND memory capacity versions, BoM costs increase even more. For example, the 1TB iPhone 18 Pro Max version has an estimated BoM production cost of nearly 300 USD more than the 1TB iPhone 17 Pro Max version.

The cost of memory chips is considered one of the main reasons why smartphone prices are increasing (Photo: The Anh).

Under the pressure of increased production costs, the gross profit margins of smartphone manufacturers are threatened with a serious decline. In order to preserve profit margins, manufacturers have no choice but to shift the burden of component costs to consumers. This move has increased global smartphone retail prices by an average of about 20% since the beginning of the year.

Escalating component costs also force technology corporations to restructure their entire product strategies. This creates a differentiation in memory capacity in the market. In the affordable and mid-range segment (under 400 USD), companies are forced to reduce or maintain the same amount of RAM and internal memory, and even eliminate high-capacity versions.

On the contrary, for the high-end segment, where customers have better financial capabilities, manufacturers continue to increase memory capacity to meet the need for high-quality photo and video storage and have good reasons for raising retail prices.

Not stopping there, big brands are also proactively narrowing or eliminating low-cost product ranges, reducing production output and focusing maximum resources on the high-end segment with better profit margins.

However, this trend is causing the mobile market to fall into a recession. Global smartphone shipments in the third quarter decreased by 20% over the same period last year, reaching the lowest third-quarter output since 2012. For the whole year, total smartphone shipments are forecast to decrease by about 12%.

If you love the large-screen multitasking experience, order the genuine iPhone Duo product from October 16 at CellphoneS with a discount of up to 5 million VND. In addition to the iPhone 18 series, which is already in stock at CellphoneS, in all colors red, blue,... a full set of 0% installment payment privileges, old-sale price subsidy comes into existence and is committed to keeping the S-Buyback price back at least 65% in 15 months.