For the last few days, reports are coming that the prices of all devices using memory chips including smartphones and laptops are going to increase. Now a recent analysis has revealed that the biggest price hike is going to come in the smartphone and PC industries after 26 years. That means, if you want to buy a new smartphone or laptop in 2026, then the burden on your pocket is going to increase. The biggest reason behind this is the lack of memory chips. These days, even the biggest companies are facing shortage of chips, due to which the prices of devices are ready to skyrocket. In today’s explainer, we are going to tell you how the shortage of memory chips started and how the situation reached here.

Why did memory chips start becoming expensive?

In August this year, America had imposed tariffs on China. Due to this, imports of various things became expensive and due to uncertainties, new investments also came to a halt. After this, in early December, Micron, one of the world’s largest companies making data storage and computer memory components, said that it will not make chips for the consumer market and will keep its entire focus on making chips for AI data centers. After this, only two big companies remained in the market, Samsung and SK Hynix, which manufacture high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips along with the consumer market. There are other companies in this field including Kingston, but they also depend on suppliers like Samsung and SK Hynix.

This is not the first time there has been a shortage

The shortage of memory chips is not being felt for the first time. If we look at the background, this industry has been full of ups and downs. Here, along with over supply, shortage of supply is also common. The supply of wafer glass required for making chips keeps increasing or decreasing depending on the demand etc. There was a shortage of memory chips during 2012-13 and after that the situation became normal. Then there was a shortage of supply in 2018-19, which was completed only in 2021-22. Now once again the demand for memory chips is increasing, but due to lack of supply the prices are skyrocketing.

How much role does AI play in this?

Most experts believe that the biggest reason behind the shortage of memory chips is AI. The trend of AI has increased in the last few years and AI companies are spending money like water to build data centers. In October, OpenAI joined hands with Samsung and SK Hynix to supply HBM for the data center. In view of this, Micron also decided to separate itself from the consumer RAM market and make chips solely for AI data centers. Actually, chip makers are also getting huge money and long contracts from AI companies. Due to this, chip making companies are also seeing an opportunity to fill their pockets and they are busy capitalizing on this opportunity without the worries of AI bubble.

How will this affect customers?

The shortage of memory chips will not only affect customers buying premium phones. Due to this, smartphones, tabs, laptops, TVs, gaming consoles and other IoT devices will also be affected and customers will have to pay higher prices for them. Many companies have decided to reduce the RAM in their phones to prevent the price from increasing. Apart from this, businesses dependent on servers, cloud services and data processing will also have to face its impact. Now the costs of companies will increase, due to which the pace of ongoing work in the field of software upgrades, digital services and cyber security will slow down.

Where is the highest demand for memory chips at this time?

AI data centers are currently consuming the most resources. A high-powered GPU requires 1TB of high-bandwidth memory (HBM), and every data center contains thousands of GPUs. From this, it can be estimated how many memory chips are required by AI companies at present. Also, AI companies require big servers for their services. Apart from this, new equipment for 5G/6G, edge computing, IoT devices, autonomous vehicles and medical devices as well as memory chips for computers and smartphones are needed.

What are companies doing to deal with this?

Recently, Google fired one of its officers because he could not ensure the supply of chips. Now the company is looking for a person who can get it chips in Korea. At the same time, Taiwanese company Asus is considering making DRAM itself. The company can start its new plant next year. Even Samsung has not been able to keep itself away from this effect. The cost of the upcoming Galaxy S26 series has increased for the company and it wants to avoid launching its phones at an expensive price. To keep the price low, Samsung has also compromised on some features. Xiaomi has started making its products expensive due to the increased price due to the chip. Other companies have also indicated that their upcoming products will be launched with increased prices.

When will the situation become normal?

This situation will continue for the next 2-3 years. It has been said in many reports that the situation is not likely to become normal before 2028. Now some companies have planned to set up new plants, but it may take a long time to get output from them. Till then customers will have no other option except buying expensive devices.

Read this also-

Why has satellite internet service of other companies including Starlink not started in India yet? reasons revealed

2026 is not expected to be good for Apple, Samsung and other mobile companies. Many such reports have come out in which it has been said that there will be a decline of 2.1 percent in the global smartphone market next year and this will affect big companies like Apple as well as small companies like Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. Smartphones are becoming expensive due to rising prices of memory chips, due to which sales are likely to be low in 2026.

Which company will be affected to what extent?

According to the report of Counter Point Research, Apple’s shipment is expected to decline by 2.2 percent and Samsung’s shipment by 2.1 percent on annual basis in 2026. Whereas Vivo may have to see a decline of 1.2 percent. This is also a big blow because till some time back Vivo was expecting good sales next year. Similarly, Oppo may also face a decline of 1.2 percent. If we look at the report, Honor may face a bad situation next year. Its market volume is expected to decline by 3.4 percent. Similarly, sales of other categories are also said to be falling by 2.5 percent.

Smartphones are going to become expensive

Due to increasing costs, smartphone companies will have to increase the price of their products. According to reports, the cost of smartphone parts for companies has increased by 10-25 percent and its direct burden will increase on the pockets of customers. In such a situation, cheap and mid-range segment smartphones can become expensive. At the same time, if companies do not increase their prices then upgrades will have to be reduced. Recently there was news that companies are now retreating from launching phones with 16GB RAM in the entry and mid-level segment. Due to the expensiveness of memory chips, companies can again start bringing smartphones with 4GB RAM.

Read this also-

All records will be broken! This phone will be launched with the biggest battery ever