Recently, memory chip prices have surged dramatically, directly driving up production costs for smartphone manufacturers. In addition to forced price hikes for models, several entry-level storage configurations that were phased out of the market years ago have reappeared in new device lineups.
Following OnePlus, vivo has also begun testing the return of the 8GB+256GB storage variant on its flagship models.
vivo has officially launched the 8GB+256GB variant of the X300 FE in the Indian market, priced at 84,999 rupees (approximately 6,000 yuan), making it the most affordable configuration in the series so far.
The launch of this new version comes after two rounds of price increases for this model. At its debut, the vivo X300 FE's 12GB+256GB variant was priced at 79,999 rupees. After the first price hike, it was raised to 86,999 rupees, and the current price has reached 89,999 rupees, representing a cumulative increase of 10,000 rupees from the launch price. Meanwhile, the price of the 12GB+512GB variant has also been raised to 99,999 rupees.
Notably, the new 8GB+256GB variant has lower storage specifications than the standard 12GB+256GB version available at launch, yet its price is 5,000 rupees higher.
Prior to this, there were reports that the upcoming OnePlus 16 would also add an 8GB+256GB variant, priced at 5,000 yuan.
Due to the current state of the industry, more smartphone manufacturers are expected to introduce similar adjustments in the future. This is an unavoidable measure taken by the industry to cope with rising costs.