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BYD to raise driver assist prices 21% on chip costs
BYD will raise the price of its optional DiPilot 300 driver assistance system by 21% to 12,000 yuan (US$1,800) on May 1.
The company said higher global memory hardware costs drove the increase.
The system now costs 9,900 yuan (US$1,400) and the new price is about US$1,757.
It is offered on BYD’s mid-range and premium models and includes highway navigation and self-parking features.
Analyst said premium cars that use lidar cameras and radar need high-performance chips with large memory, while mid-range models may face more pressure from higher costs.
Memory price increases are also affecting other devices, including VR products.
🔗 Source: South China Morning Post
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
AI data centers are pushing up memory costs for BYD
- BYD’s price increase comes from a worldwide memory shortage as AI data center building speeds up. Alphabet plans US$185 billion in capital spending, while Amazon plans US$200 billion 1.
- Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix are shifting factory output away from non-AI uses toward High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a type of fast memory used in AI accelerators, because AI chips bring in more money 1.
- That leaves other sectors short of supply. Contract prices for automotive-grade memory rose about 90% in the first quarter of 2026 2.
- Prices for some commodity memory parts more than tripled in the last six months of 2025, which left manufacturers like BYD facing steep cost pressure 3.
The memory squeeze is hitting consumer tech
- Apple and Tesla have warned that memory shortages could limit output and squeeze margins 1.
- TrendForce, a market research firm that tracks the technology supply chain, has cut its 2026 forecasts for smartphone and laptop production as memory prices climbed 4.
- Across consumer electronics, companies are scaling back plans. Low-end smartphones are expected to drop to 4GB of memory in 2026, while Sony is considering a delay for the next PlayStation console until 2028 or 2029 41.
- Cloud service providers (CSPs) are giving suppliers the upper hand. They are accepting higher prices and signing long-term agreements (LTAs) to lock in memory supply 5.
Recent BYD developments
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