A global RAM shortage has flipped the smartphone cost hierarchy. Processors and displays cost less to make than the memory chips that hold photos and apps, and that floor is still rising.
For more than a decade, the spec sheet arms race in smartphones ran on the same fuel: faster processors, brighter displays, more cameras. The component that quietly kept all of it working sat in the back of the bill of materials. That component, dynamic memory, has just become the most expensive line item in the phone.
According to a Verge report on Nothing CEO Carl Pei's X post, the global shortage of DRAM memory has reshaped what it costs to build a handset. Pei, whose company sells the mid-range Nothing Phone 4A, said the memory cost for that device doubled between the build decision and the launch, and has doubled again since. The Verge's coverage is part of its ongoing series on the global memory shortage.
The reason is structural, not brand-specific. Pei claims that memory now accounts for more than 50% of smartphone hardware cost, more than the application processor that runs the operating system, and more than the display panel that gets the marketing slides. If that figure holds, each of the parts that has historically driven the launch narrative is now cheaper to manufacture than the memory holding everything together.
The passthrough is already visible in retail. The Verge reports that new phones have launched at up to $100 above their predecessors since February. In India, devices priced above ₹30,000 have seen jumps of ₹7,000 or more. Samsung and Google are both expected to raise prices on upcoming flagships, according to the same Verge coverage. That is an industry floor shifting under every brand at once.
Pei framed the moment for consumers with a line that doubles as a sales pitch. "The best time to upgrade was yesterday," he wrote, echoing similar language he used at Mobile World Congress. The urgency serves Nothing's interests, since the company has its own price hikes to justify, and the same logic is in play at Samsung and Google. Read it as a CEO talking point, not as personal finance advice.
What the shift does mean is that the strategy that worked for buyers in 2022 and 2023, waiting for a November sale to catch last year's model at a real discount, is built on a cost base that no longer exists. Memory pricing does not normally snap back inside a Black Friday window. The Verge's RAM price hike series makes the supply-side case in detail.
The open question is whether the >50% figure is durable or a peak. Memory pricing tracks capacity expansion at the major fabs, and the current cycle was set off by supply tightness that took hold over the past year. Until new capacity comes online, every phone on the shelf is built against a memory cost that is structurally higher than the model it replaces.
The next data point to watch is the fall flagship cycle. If Samsung's and Google's autumn launches land at the higher price points analysts expect, the memory floor becomes the new normal. If they hold the line, it will be because they absorbed the increase themselves, which is not a strategy that survives a second year of doubling costs.