iPhone users used to boast that their devices only needed 4GB of RAM to function smoothly while Android devices require up to 8GB of RAM. With demand for NAND chips skyrocketing due to the needs of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, RAM prices have increased by up to 40% this year with supply shortages expected to continue until 2027.
Trendforce now predicts that due to rising costs and supply shortages, Android devices with 4GB of RAM will resurface in the market in 2026. This will have the biggest impact on entry-level devices that currently come with between 6-8 GB of RAM. Users will have to pay a premium price if they want to own a device with 8GB of RAM. Unfortunately, on affordable devices, the virtual memory feature is not supported because they still use eMMC storage.
The high demand for AI chips has led Xiaomi and Samsung to confirm that their devices will be priced higher next year. Lenovo has also made bulk purchases of memory and storage to reduce the impact on prices until the end of 2026. There are even rumors that next year microSD slots will also return to smartphones due to a shortage of storage chips.
AI, which is said to have a positive impact on productivity, is now causing hardware prices to rise while contributing to carbon emissions, noise pollution, excessive water use and the same energy costs as hundreds of thousands of private homes.