The next-generation flagship devices, set to arrive in the second half of the year, will see price increases. A well-known Chinese insider reveals this, who envisions a not-so-enthusiastic outlook for the Asian market. The lineup includes OnePlus 16, iQOO 16 and the upcoming Redmi K100 Pro Max, expected by us to be the POCO F9 Ultra. Price increases are also expected for the Global variants, and thus for Italy as well.
OnePlus 16, iQOO 16 and Redmi K100 Pro Max, price increases on the horizon: will there be hikes also internationally?
The latest chatter comes from Digital Chat Station, a fairly prolific and often reliable insider. In reality, when it comes to price increases for the next generation of smartphones, we are dealing with the Pulcinella secret. The memory shortage has affected every area of the tech world and mobile is no exception.
The leaker talks about OnePlus 16, iQOO 16 and Redmi K100 Pro Max: the flagship trio is coming in the second half of the year and all will be built with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 6, Qualcomm’s next flagship chipset.
The devices will be more expensive than their 2025 counterparts: the 12/256 GB variants will have a starting price of around 5,000 yuan, about €623 at the current exchange rate. To give you a better idea, the OnePlus 15 debuted in China at 3,999 yuan while the iQOO 15 and Redmi K90 Pro Max start at 4,199 and 3,999 yuan.
Usually smartphones are much cheaper in China than their Western counterparts. These price hikes at home will certainly have international effects as well: OnePlus 16 and POCO F9 Ultra (the future Global version of Redmi K100 Pro Max) will be more expensive and the same goes for iQOO 16, although the latter won’t arrive in Italy.
The current POCO F8 Ultra was launched in Italy starting from €829 while the OnePlus 15 debuted at €979. At this point there is nothing left to do but keep fingers crossed and hope for the best.
