A number of Snapdragon 8 Elite flagship devices are expected to be launched this month, and one of those is the iQoo 13. The company has revealed several details about its upcoming flagship, but has yet to provide any specific information regarding pricing.
Price Hikes Anticipated
Before the announcement of the Snapdragon 8 Elite smartphones, there were rumors suggesting a price increase might occur. Recently, Lei Jun, the CEO of Xiaomi, confirmed that the newly announced Xiaomi 15 series will come at a higher cost compared to its predecessor. He explained that the rising prices of components and the funds spent on research and development are the main reasons behind this.
iQoo 13 Pricing Insights
Galant V, who is the product manager at iQoo, mentioned on Weibo that a price increase for the iQoo 13 is "inevitable." The official pointed out that production costs have surged by hundreds of yuans, making it hard to maintain the same pricing as the previous model. For context, the last flagship model debuted in China starting at CNY 3,999, which is roughly $561.
While there hasn't been any official statement regarding how much the price will rise, new flagship models are anticipated to begin at approximately CNY 4,500 (around $632) in China. However, it’s worth noting that not all Snapdragon 8 Elite flagships might see a price bump. According to a recent update from Digital Chat Station, a well-known tipster on Weibo, at least one next-generation flagship is expected to retain the previous generation’s pricing (for instance, the 12/256 GB RedMagic 9s Pro currently priced at $749 on Amazon).
Clarification from Digital Chat Station
When Digital Chat Station made this report, many users on Weibo speculated that the iQoo 13 would be the model maintaining the last-gen pricing. However, the tipster later clarified that he was referring to a different smartphone, causing some confusion among the users.
IT Home (machine translated from Chinese)
