Possible price surge expected for laptops and smartphones in 2026
If you are in the market for any new devices, such as a phone, smart TV or laptop, you might want to take note.
In a world where most people depend on smart devices and other tech gadgets for work or play, it's no surprise that demand is starting to outpace supply.
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However, it's not just everyday consumers driving the global surge in RAM and flash storage.
Data centres, particularly those supporting artificial intelligence (AI), are also playing a significant role.
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The BBC reports that the price of RAM, a component that stores code while a device is in use, has more than doubled since October 2025.
RAM is crucial for devices ranging from smartphones and laptops to smart TVs and even medical equipment.
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The rapid expansion of AI has led to significant demand from cloud service providers such as Amazon and Google, creating an imbalance between supply and demand that is now affecting consumer prices.
Chris Miller, author of Chip War, explained that high-end memory used in AI applications has caused dramatic price fluctuations across different memory types.
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Mike Howard from Tech Insights adds that supply constraints combined with clear forecasts from major cloud providers have pushed suppliers to raise prices aggressively, with some even pausing quotes in anticipation of further increases.
For manufacturers, RAM typically accounts for 15 to 20% of a PC’s total cost.
Current pricing has pushed this to 30 to 40%, leaving little room to absorb cost increases without passing them on to consumers.
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This will lead to manufacturers having to make more difficult pricing decisions, and Danny Williams from PCSpecialist expects price rises to continue well into 2026.
According to MyBroadband, local mobile network operators and tech distributors are already anticipating price increases for devices.
- DRAM and NAND flash prices have skyrocketed since late 2025 due to surging demand from data centres.
- Smartphone brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi and Realme have warned that their device prices may rise.
- Counterpoint Research predicts global smartphone shipments could shrink by 2.1% in 2026, with average selling prices increasing by 6.9%, up from an earlier forecast of 3.6%.
- IDC’s mid-December report also estimated average selling price increases of 3 to 8%, depending on the severity of the memory shortage.
- Cell C has forecast a sharper impact locally, suggesting smartphone prices could rise by 30 to 40% over the next two months.
- MTN South Africa reports that budget and mid-tier devices have already experienced price hikes.
- The increase is most pronounced in entry-level devices, where memory accounts for a larger share of production costs.
- Mid-tier and premium devices are not exempt, as next-generation AI-capable chipsets require more RAM and storage, which affects both performance and pricing.
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Should you buy now or wait?
- Network operators advise buyers to consider contract deals, operator promotions and value-focused brands to mitigate price increases.
- Some suggest making purchases sooner rather than later to lock in current prices or using instalment plans to spread costs.
- Memory configurations should also be carefully chosen, especially for devices intended for more demanding applications.
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While some manufacturers are stockpiling inventory to reduce exposure to rising costs, others have withdrawn from the consumer market entirely to focus on supplying AI demand.
Micron, for example, announced in December that it would stop selling its Crucial brand to focus on AI memory.
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