BBS: TELESC.NET.BR
Assunto: Cheap phones could be gone forever
De: Mike Powell
Data: Sat, 28 Feb 2026 10:54:26 -0500
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`The tariffs and pandemic crisis seem a joke compared to this': Cheap
phones could be gone forever thanks to the RAM crisis, a new report claims
By Alex Blake published yesterday
A prolonged, perhaps permanent impact
The RAM crisis will bring "seismic" changes to phones, a new report says
That means rising prices and changing specifications
The changes could be long-lasting and potentially permanent
If you've been thinking about upgrading your computer, it's been hard to
avoid news of rapidly rising component prices caused by the ongoing RAM
shortage. The impact on all the best phones has been less clear, but a new
report has highlighted how it could drastically affect the smartphone world
over the coming months.
The report comes from tech analysts IDC (via Bloomberg), and it makes for some
pretty bleak reading. According to IDC, the global smartphone market will
shrink 12.9% in 2026, sparking a "crisis like no other" in the industry.
Indeed, IDC says that past upheaval will pale in comparison, saying that "The
tariffs and pandemic crisis seem a joke compared to this."
The outlook for consumers is pretty miserable. In response to the memory
crunch, Bloomberg says that smartphone makers are "reining in specifications,
eliminating unprofitable entry-level models and pushing consumers to buy more
premium devices."
And this might not be a temporary change, either. IDC's Senior Research
Director Nabila Popal believes that "The smartphone market will witness a
seismic shift by the time this crisis is over - in size, average selling
prices and competitive landscape."
For its part, Bloomberg believes that the current situation will extend into
2027 and that "even when supply is replenished, returning to the old pricing
structures now appears unlikely."
Bad news, especially for Android
The ongoing RAM crisis has been caused by the extreme demands of the artificial
intelligence (AI) industry, which has eaten up most of the component supply for
its data center needs, and it's now having a knock-on effect on consumer
devices.
As Bloomberg puts it, "The demand for advanced memory to power artificial
intelligence tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and now
jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers."
The state of the industry is particularly bad news for Android phones, where
profit margins tend to be thin and prices are often low. IDC noted that
entry-level devices could be particularly badly affected, as memory makes up a
larger share of manufacturers' costs at this end of the market. Companies
like Lenovo and Xiaomi have already warned that prices might have to rise.
Premium companies like Apple might weather the storm a little better, as their
higher profit margins might allow them to absorb more of the cost increases
instead of passing them on to consumers. That said, Apple CEO Tim Cook recently
conceded that the supply shortage could have a "bit more of an impact"
going forward than it did last year, raising the question of whether the
company will have to raise prices.
IDC is not the only research firm to hold this pessimistic outlook. For
instance, analysts at Counterpoint recently claimed that "2026 is shaping up
to be the worst year in smartphone history" due to a "full-scale supply
shock" triggered by the RAM shortage.
IDC's Popal sounded a gloomy note by adding: "The days of cheap smartphones
are gone, as even when the crisis is over, we don't expect memory prices to
go back down to 2025 levels." According to Bloomberg, some 170 million phones
costing under $100 were sold in 2025 - an entire segment that now looks
"uneconomical to maintain."
https://www.techradar.com/phones/the-tariffs-and-pandemic-crisis-seem-a-joke-co
mpared-to-this-cheap-phones-could-be-gone-forever-thanks-to-the-ram-crisis-a-ne
w-report-claims
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* Origin: Capitol City Online (1:2320/105)
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