DRAM Price Surge May Kill Budget Smartphones

Rising DRAM costs and AI demand could eliminate budget smartphones by 2027 as memory prices surge 700% since 2022.

Experts warn that budget smartphones priced around $220 could vanish by 2027 as storage costs are projected to account for 60 percent of a device's total price. This shift follows a 700% increase in DRAM prices since 2022, driven by AI equipment demand which is expected to consume over 60 percent of annual supply by 2025. Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron currently control 90 percent of the global DRAM market and face a class-action lawsuit over these supply issues. While Chinese suppliers CXMT and YMTC provide chips to Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests these partnerships only mitigate supply risks rather than lowering costs. With IDC reporting smartphone shipments at their lowest levels since 2013, Lenovo has labeled current high pricing as the new normal while Apple lobbies the Trump Administration.