Xiaomi says rising chip costs have pushed up phone prices after Redmi K90 launch disappoints market

[xiaomi store in China]
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* Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi (OTCPK:XIACF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XIACF]) (OTCPK:XIACY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XIACY]) said on Friday that increasing memory chip prices have raised handset production costs, following market disappointment over the pricing of its new Redmi K90 series.
* "Cost pressure has transferred to the pricing of our new products," President Lu Weibing wrote on Weibo, as per _Reuters_. "Rising costs of memory chips are far beyond expectations and could intensify."
* Xiaomi (OTCPK:XIACF [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XIACF]) (OTCPK:XIACY [https://seekingalpha.com/symbol/XIACY]) launched its entry-level Redmi K90 on Thursday with the base model, equipped with 12 GB of memory and 256 GB of storage, priced from 2,599 yuan ($364). That compares with 2,499 yuan for the base model of the predecessor K80 series launched in November 2024.
* Lu noted consumer disappointment about price gaps between configurations. He said Xiaomi will lower the price of the most in-demand K90 model - with 12 GB memory and 512 GB storage - by 300 yuan to 2,899 yuan for the first month of sales, the report said.

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