{"id":509964,"date":"2026-04-03T01:53:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/509964\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T01:53:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T01:53:13","slug":"smartphone-prices-hikes-are-inevitable-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/509964\/","title":{"rendered":"Smartphone prices hikes are ‘inevitable’ in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As the ongoing RAM\/storage crisis continues to send shockwaves through the tech industry, a new report says that smartphone price hikes are \u201cinevitable\u201d while also further pointing out that entry-level phones are the hardest hit.<\/p>\n

Counterpoint Research Korea reports<\/a> that the prices of DRAM (memory) and NAND (storage) continue to skyrocket going into Q2 2026. That\u2019s having a major impact on the smartphone market, which breaks down into three categories.<\/p>\n

The sub-$200 devices are considered \u201centry-level,\u201d with the rising costs leaving a smartphone with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage with those two components as a whopping 43% of the total cost of the bill of materials (BOM). As analyst @Jukanlosreve points out<\/a>, entry-level smartphones will suffer heavily, as will associated brands such as various Chinese smartphone makers as well as chipset maker MediaTek.<\/p>\n

Even flagship devices ($800 and up) could see their BOM rise by $100-150 in Q2 2026, with a hypothetical device with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage taking up 23% and 18% of the total BOM.<\/p>\n

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\u201cMid-range\u201d devices, those sold between $400-600, would also see major increases, but would be the least impacted of the bunch. A device with 8GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB UFS 4.0 storage \u2013 a somewhat rare combination, but similar to the Pixel 10 \u2013 would see those components account for 20% and 16%, respectively, of the BOM.<\/p>\n

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Counterpoint further notes two potential paths forward for brands \u2013 lessening reliance on entry-level smartphones and reducing the shipments of those devices, as well as shifting focus within the device to lower specs that are deemed \u201cnon-essential\u201d to make up for the higher costs elsewhere. Entry-level phones are now considered a \u201crisk\u201d for \u201cshort-term losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the report says that \u201csmartphone retail price hikes are expected to be inevitable in 2026,\u201d something we\u2019re already seeing with Samsung\u2019s more expensive mid-range Galaxy A phones<\/a>, price hikes on Lenovo tablets<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n

More on Android:<\/p>\n

Follow Ben:\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

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