Smartphone prices are going up steadily, driven largely by the global shortage of memory components. It doesn’t look like things will be changing anytime soon either. With DRAM and NAND supplies tight, RAM has quietly become the most expensive part inside phones these days. Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl Pei highlighted this trend in a post on X.
Nothing CEO highlights RAM is now the most expensive phone component
According to Pei, RAM and storage together can now make up more than half of a phone’s total bill of materials (BOM). In fact, he adds that memory is more expensive than processors and displays. Interestingly, he shares the company’s own experience. For the Nothing Phone (4a), the memory costs apparently doubled from the time they decided to build it to when it made its debut. That’s not the end. Since the time they hit the store shelves, the prices have doubled again. This jump is what’s leading to tough calls like pushing up the prices of the phones.
With suppliers strained, phone makers aren’t just ordering whatever they need anymore. Instead, they face limited quotas and have to pay premium prices for what they can get. Pei highlights that since February, many new phones that launched cost around $100 more than their previous models. With prices still rising, we’re now rarely seeing the big promotional discounts that we’re used to seeing once.
Prices of phones still climbing up
DRAM prices have jumped sharply in 2026 due to the AI boom, raising phone building costs by 10-30% or more depending on the model. Budget and mid-range devices are finding it the hardest. Even some premium models saw price hikes. In fact, Nothing had to raise prices for both the Phone (4a) and the Phone (4a) Pro across all variants after their launch.
Carl Pei notes that for anyone thinking about getting a new phone/upgrading, the “best time was yesterday. The next best time is now.” He adds that the sale season won’t have the discounts that people are used to. That said, this isn’t specific to Nothing; this is affecting all brands, including Samsung, Xiaomi, Google, and others. Beyond phones, laptop prices are also seeing a significant jump in recent months.
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