{"id":151283,"date":"2026-03-13T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T10:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/?post_type=news&#038;p=151283"},"modified":"2026-03-11T21:54:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T19:54:42","slug":"pislya-podorozhchannya-pamyat-zajnyala-majzhe-polovynu-cziny-byudzhetnyh-smartfoniv","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/news\/pislya-podorozhchannya-pamyat-zajnyala-majzhe-polovynu-cziny-byudzhetnyh-smartfoniv\/","title":{"rendered":"After Price Surge, Memory Accounts for Nearly Half the Cost of Budget Smartphones"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"87\" data-end=\"412\">Rising prices for memory chips are significantly affecting the production cost of smartphones. According to analysts at <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Counterpoint Research<\/span><\/span>, in the first quarter of 2026 the cost of memory for manufacturers of budget smartphones could increase by 25%, reaching about 43% of the total cost of components.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"414\" data-end=\"729\">This estimate is based on a typical configuration of a low-cost smartphone \u2014 6 GB of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">LPDDR4X<\/span><\/span> RAM and 128 GB of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">eMMC<\/span><\/span> storage. For devices that previously cost less than $200, such an increase in component costs could be particularly significant.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"731\" data-end=\"1064\">Mid-range smartphones priced between $400 and $600 typically use 8 GB of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">LPDDR5X<\/span><\/span> and 256 GB of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">UFS 4.0<\/span><\/span> storage. Analysts expect prices for these components to rise by 14% and 11% respectively in the first quarter, and by a further 20% and 16% in the second quarter.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1066\" data-end=\"1470\">The price increases will also affect flagship models, although their cost structure is somewhat different. In premium smartphones priced above $800, an additional factor will be the use of the latest <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">2-nanometer process<\/span><\/span> for mobile processors. A configuration with 16 GB of LPDDR5X and 512 GB of <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">UFS 4.1<\/span><\/span> storage could become $100\u2013150 more expensive.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1472\" data-end=\"1830\">In the cost structure of flagship smartphones, RAM accounts for about 23% while flash storage makes up roughly 18%. Combined, this totals around 41% of component costs \u2014 nearly the same proportion as in budget models. However, because of higher capacities and more advanced standards, flagship devices may experience larger price increases in absolute terms.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1832\" data-end=\"2281\">According to <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Counterpoint Research<\/span><\/span>, prices for mobile <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">DRAM<\/span><\/span> could rise by more than 50% in the first quarter, while <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">NAND flash<\/span><\/span> memory prices could increase by more than 90%. Due to high price sensitivity, the budget smartphone segment is expected to be hit the hardest. Manufacturers may also prioritize producing more expensive models that offer higher margins.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2283\" data-end=\"2604\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">To offset rising costs, companies may reduce production of cheaper models, use smaller memory capacities, or cut costs in other device features. However, analysts believe price increases are the most realistic scenario: budget smartphones could become about $30 more expensive, while flagship models may rise by $150\u2013200.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":151284,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-151283","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/151283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=151283"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=151283"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=151283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}