Smartphone vendors pass rising costs to consumers

Chinese smartphone vendors are ratcheting up the prices of their products, as they wrestle with rising component costs and the mounting pressure to increase profits.

Meizu Technology Co increased the starting price of the Note 5 to 999 yuan ($145) at the beginning of this month, an increase of 100 yuan from when it was released in December.

The price tags of handsets by LeEco are 80 yuan to 280 yuan higher this month than their release prices.