The memory chip crisis threatens the future of budget phones, with costs doubling
A report revealed that the cost of RAM and storage chips rose from about a third of the cost of manufacturing budget phones to between 59% and 64% in less than a year, threatening a major contraction in this sector compared to leading phones that are able to absorb the increase.
The sharp rise in the costs of RAM chips and storage units threatens the future of budget and mid-range smartphones, which already operate on very thin profit margins.
According to the report, memory and storage chips in the third quarter of 2025 (July-September) constituted only between 31% and 33% of the total cost of manufacturing a phone priced at $400 or less. Today, in 2026, the share of these same components has jumped to between 59% and 64% of the total cost, nearly doubling in less than a year.
While manufacturers of leading phones, such as the iPhone Pro or Galaxy Ultra with prices exceeding $1,200, can absorb this increase or pass it on as slight price increases due to their small percentage of the total cost, manufacturers in the category of phones priced at $400 or less, such as Xiaomi Redmi Realme and Infinix are facing a real disaster due to their operation with profit margins that do not exceed $5 to $10 per device.
This story was produced with machine-translation assistance, then went through human editorial review for accuracy and sourcing.

Comments (0)
No comments yet — be the first to comment.