If you're looking to buy a new phone next year, you might want to hold off a little. According to Android Authority, phones will become more expensive due to recent RAM price inflation, and new reports suggest that phone specs may start to decline as a result..
According to Korean leader Lanzuk in a blog post NaverRising memory prices will force the smartphone industry to raise prices and lower specifications starting in the first quarter of 2026. Phones with 16GB of storage will reportedly virtually disappear, except in rare cases. It's a similar story for 12GB devices: the cost of these models has dropped by more than 40 percent, and more and more manufacturers are choosing 6GB and 8GB RAM models as base options.
Even then, the numbers dropped by more than 50 percent for the previously mentioned 8GB RAM models, leaving some manufacturers with no choice but to downgrade the specs.
Why such a sharp rise in prices? Well, it's mainly because of the AI.
With the current AI boom, companies large and small are rushing to adopt AI. The growing demand for AI is also leading to rapid demand for AI data centers, which in turn require large amounts of both high-speed memory (HBM) and high-capacity enterprise SSDs, which suppliers have been unable to meet, driving up prices.
To meet the demand of higher-paying companies willing to spend money, RAM manufacturers have begun shifting consumer DRAM production lines to HBM, which in turn is reducing the supply of not only DRAM, but also NAND flash memory commonly found in smartphones.
I'm not sure if this will impact higher-end phone makers like Apple and Samsung, who may be able to cope with the price increases, but phone makers are faced with a decision: either raise prices or reduce the specifications of new devices coming out in 2026.
How Android authority notes that this affects all products that use RAM and storage, so it could impact not only consumer technology but also the automotive industry, which typically uses RAM and storage to power vehicles with screens.
Source: Android authority
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