Omdia shared a report which points to a substantial increase in RAM production costs, noting that it will be harder to find mobile phones at a price below $400.
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13/07/2026
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Uin the second half of 2026 and 2027, consumers will have fewer cell phone options with prices below 400 dollars (EUR 349.99).
The reason is the increase in the costs of RAM memory components, which are increasingly sought after among companies that seek to develop their own models of Artificial Intelligence.
Analyst Zaker Li says that mid-range mobile phones will have a production drop of around 22%, indicating that memory production costs nearly doubled between the third quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. As the CNet site notes, on mobile phones with a price above $400 the production costs associated with memory increased by more than 100%.
Li claims that mobile phone manufacturers in this segment are trying to balance the budget at the expense of other components (such as screens and sensors), but notes that there is no large room for manoeuvre given that the memory price continues to rise rapidly.
It is important to note that the co-founder and CEO of Nothing, Carl Pei, had already pointed to this possibility in the beginning of 2026 by stating, in a shared publication on social network X, that cheap phones could become more difficult to find.
“The trend of lower costs for memory and screens has allowed annual improvements in specifications without price increases”, writes Pei. “ In 2026, this model finally ended, driven by a sharp and unprecedented increase in memory costs”.
Pei said that “for the first time”, mobile phones are competing directly with the Artificial Intelligence infrastructure for these components, with the price of RAM memory rising as a result.
“ Memory is rapidly becoming the most expensive component in a smartphone and potentially the main driver in the cost of materials by the end of the year, with estimates suggesting that memory modules that cost less than $20 a year ago can exceed $100 in top-of-the-range models at the end of the year.”, wrote Pei.
Faced with this situation, Pei believes that manufacturers will be faced with two choices: “increase the price [of mobile phones] by 30% in some cases or lower specifications”. Anyway, the leader of Nothing believes that the era of cheap mobile phones with competitive specifications has come to an end.
If you have been delaying the purchase of a new mobile phone, this may be the best time considering that models launched in 2026 may come at a higher price than you might expect.
You can read the full publication of Carl Pei below.
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) January 14, 2026