US sanctions drive up Huawei handset prices as company grapples with impending chip shortage
- Prices of Huawei handsets at Shenzhen wholesale market Huaqiangbei have gone up 100 yuan to 300 yuan as dealers expect the firm’s access to chips to run dry
- Huawei CEO Guo Ping says that US sanctions affecting the firm’s high-end Kirin chips will ‘cause certain difficulties’ but he is optimistic about resolving them
At Shenzhen’s iconic Huaqiangbei, the world’s biggest electronics wholesale market, customers can find phones from a buffet of premium brands such as Apple, Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo at a discount.
While many of these are second-hand or refurbished, third-party vendors also stock new handsets, which they are able to offer at cheaper prices by purchasing the units through dealers at wholesale prices several hundred yuan below what the brands’ official stores sell them for.
“In general, the price of every Huawei model has increased 100 yuan (US$15) in my store, and some up to 300 yuan because the supply will be reduced,” said a vendor who wanted to be known by his surname, Wang. “Now there is almost no price gap … We cannot get much profit from selling Huawei phones.”
The Post spoke to four third-party dealers in Huaqiangbei, all of whom said the prices of Huawei models are rising day-by-day. “The reason is simple – Huawei cannot get chips for their smartphones. The supply is limited,” said one vendor, Lu Jinwei.
Huawei’s official prices appear unchanged, and a staff member at an official Huawei store in Shenzhen told the Post that he had not received any official notice to raise prices for any model.