Huawei phones are finally going to increase in price.
Author | Huang Yu
Facing the pressure of rising memory prices, Huawei, which previously managed to seize the market against headwinds, can no longer hold out.
On June 1, Huawei launched the new nova16 series for the mid-range market. In terms of pricing, the standard version starts at 2,999 yuan, which is 300 yuan higher than the previous generation; the nova16pro starts at 3,899 yuan, up 400 yuan; the nova16ultra starts at 4,699 yuan, up 500 yuan from the last generation.
Since 2026, amid a general trend of rising prices for new phones from major manufacturers, Huawei has remained restrained in phone pricing. Previously released low-end Huawei Enjoy 90 series only increased by 100-200 yuan; the high-end Pura90 series also did not raise prices, with some versions even priced lower than the previous generation.
In April 2026, Yu Chengdong, chairman of Huawei Terminal BG, said at the launch event: "Memory prices have increased sharply, and the cost pressure is huge. The cost for flagship phones has risen between 1,200 and 1,500 yuan. Huawei showed absolute sincerity in pricing and gave it our best. We can't bear the cost anymore, so we might have to raise prices in the future.”
Although the nova16 series has seen a significant price increase, compared to new products at the same tier from other phone manufacturers, the increase is notably smaller.
Counterpoint Research Deputy Director Ethan Qi told Wall Street Insights that rising memory prices directly impact the current mid-range smartphone market, squeezing most of the profit margins for related products. Most brands have chosen to offset this by increasing prices.
In terms of configuration, the Huawei nova16 series uses the Kirin 9010S flagship processor, paired with HarmonyOS 6.1. The nova16Pro and nova16Ultra feature an exclusive 200-million-pixel Red Maple imaging system. The entire series comes standard with a 7000mAh Whale battery and 100W Huawei Super Fast Charging.
The nova series targets young consumers who value aesthetics and photography, making the AI imaging experience a main highlight of the nova16 series. It offers Huawei's most comprehensive AI retouching features to date, including live collage and 3D dynamic photos.
It is worth noting that during the two years when Huawei phones lost 5G, the mid-range Nova series showed greater market resilience than the high-end Mate and P Series.
Even now, under cost pressure, Huawei is unwilling to risk large price increases for the nova series.
This time, Huawei has also added a new version, the nova16z, which is mainly for online channels and equipped with a Kirin 8020 chip. It is priced from 2,699 yuan to attract users who are more price sensitive.
In terms of release frequency, the Huawei nova series is the most frequently updated among all series, with two generations launched every year.
The smartphone market environment in 2026 is far from optimistic.
According to Counterpoint’s latest forecast, global smartphone shipments in 2026 will drop 13.9% year-on-year to around 1.08 billion units, reaching a new annual low since 2013, with the decline exceeding the 12.4% predicted in February. Tight memory supply is a key factor driving this market downturn.
However, Counterpoint believes Apple and Samsung are the OEMs relatively less affected by the current shock, and Huawei is expected to be the only Chinese brand with growing shipments in 2026.
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