The demand for chips is increasing due to artificial intelligence. This is making them an increasingly scarce commodity and driving up prices. Smartphones are as well expected to become more expensive.
Artificial intelligence (AI) could prove costly for consumers: excessive demand for memory devices is increasingly impacting the price of smartphones and computers.
“The boom in AI and related investments in infrastructure and research facilities are having a noticeable impact on the memory chip market,” says Wolfgang Weber of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association, in comments to Deutsche Welle.
“Analyses from the past year indicate a 50 percent increase in the prices of these chips,” Weber noted. Due to high demand, deliveries may take longer, but the prices of electronic and digital devices are also likely to rise.
Boom in the Semiconductor Market
Data from WSTS (World Semiconductor Trade Statistics), which researches the semiconductor market, indicates that it reached a value of $346 billion (293 billion euros) in the first half of 2025, an increase of 18.9 percent compared to the previous year.
Forecasts for 2025 predict an overall growth of 22 percent to $772 billion (665 billion euros), and for 2026, an increase of over 25 percent to $975 billion (827 billion euros).
Meanwhile, a study by the marketing company IDC (International Data Corporation) on changes in smartphone prices notes: “The more moderate scenario predicts a price increase of three to five percent. The more pessimistic one – eight percent.”
Experts conclude: “The era of cheap and affordable memory devices is over. 2026 will likely be the year in which technology becomes more expensive due to supply problems, not increased demand.”
Samsung: Smartphones Will Become More Expensive
Samsung President Won-Jin Lee stated to Bloomberg in late January that “prices are rising daily.” “Naturally, we would not want to pass this increase on to consumers, but we will reach a point where we will actually have to reflect the higher costs in our products.”
Apple has not yet commented on the matter. Economic analysts suggest that the company will maintain stable prices for its base models, but there could be price increases for those with larger memory capacity.
Demand for Refurbished Phones is Growing
Over the past five years, the cost of memory chips in smartphone production has increased significantly. Industry data shows that if the share of the cost of the memory device for an iPhone 12 Pro Max was eight percent of the total component costs of the phone in 2020, it was already ten percent for the iPhone 17 Pro Max in September 2025. Experts in the industry believe that this share could reach 20 percent due to the constant increase in the price of memory chips.
The market for novel devices is currently stagnating. The reason: prices are not stopping to rise. But this is driving increased demand for used devices, according to analyses by consulting firms: refurbished devices achieved a market share of nine percent in July 2025 compared to five percent in January. “Refurbished devices are increasingly evolving from a niche product into a real market force. In some places, they even account for over 40 percent of online sales of models under 600 euros,” the analyses state.
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