If Samsung has its way, big price hikes are likely for most top phones from

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Consumers breathe a sigh of relief if new phones, particularly flagship phones, launched each year don't get a price hike. However, the situation may change from 2026 and could remain that way for the foreseeable future.



Memory chip prices have seen an astronomical rise in recent months and they're expected to trend higher. This could force many manufacturers, including Samsung which also makes memory chips, to raise prices.



Top phones may keep getting more expensive for a couple of years



Flagship phones require more memory than ever before to power the many AI features that are being introduced. PC makers also need memory while data centers and AI companies can't gobble memory fast enough. All of this is pushing memory prices into super cycle territory.



This is working out well for Samsung which makes a wide variety of memory products. It's also at the forefront of providing high-bandwidth memory for AI chips. Samsung has recently raised the prices of some memory chips by as much as 60% to capitalize on this high demand.



A report from South Korea highlights that the prices from Samsung's 16 DDR5 RAM has risen from $53 in late September to nearly $135 last week. Prices for the 32GB chip have surged from $115 to $313 in the same period.



This will force manufacturers to increase the prices of their top phones. Samsung may have to do the same for next year's Galaxy S26 series, thought it may try to soften the impact through the use of its Exynos 2600 chip in most variants.



Market analysts predict that higher prices could carry into 2027 as well, so price hikes can't be ruled out for 2027's Galaxy S27 series, either. Apple is also expected to charge more for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max next year, while it's first foldable iPhone due next year may also be on the higher side with an expected price tag of $2,300.






The post If Samsung has its way, big price hikes are likely for most top phones from 2026 appeared first on SamMobile.



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