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Memory chip costs surge as AI demand disrupts smartphone market
The global smartphone and memory markets are facing significant disruption due to a surge in DRAM and NAND costs. Driven by the massive memory requirements of artificial intelligence, chip manufacturers are shifting production toward AI data centers, causing a supply bottleneck for consumer electronics.
IDC reports that global smartphone shipments are projected to decline by 16.7% this year, with Android shipments expected to fall 24.3% in 2026. The entry-level segment is particularly hard hit, with devices under $100 seeing a nearly 60% decline in the second quarter. Consequently, the average selling price of smartphones has risen to a record $581.
In South Korea, the value of DRAM exports has increased 12.5 times over the last three years. In August, export prices for South Korean DRAM rose 401% year-on-year. This scarcity is impacting device manufacturing costs; in some cases, the cost of memory (such as a 12GB+256GB combination) has surpassed the cost of the system-on-a-chip (SoC) in flagship smartphones.
Industry leaders, including SK hynix, have warned that DRAM wafer shortages could persist until 2030. While companies like Samsung continue to innovate with high-speed storage solutions like the new P9 SSD, the broader consumer market is feeling the pressure of rising component prices.
Entities
Android · IDC · SK Hynix · Samsung · Samsung Electronics · TrendForce · Xiaomi
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how many sources carry each claim.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Global smartphone shipments are projected to drop 16.7% this year. androidgeek.pt
- [○ 1 SOURCE] DRAM wafer shortages may persist until 2030. gadgets.cnmo.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Android shipments are expected to fall 24.3% in 2026. androidgeek.pt
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Smartphone memory prices grew by more than 80% quarter-on-quarter in Q2 2026. www.ithome.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] South Korean DRAM export prices rose 401% year-on-year in the first three weeks of August. www.hd-tecnologia.com
- [○ 1 SOURCE] NAND and DRAM costs have increased by more than 300% year-on-year. androidgeek.pt
- [○ 1 SOURCE] The P9 portable SSD offers sequential read speeds of up to 4,000 MB/s. www.xataka.com.mx