Why Your Next Laptop or Phone Costs More in 2026

If you’ve priced out a laptop recently and thought the number looked higher than it should, you’re not imagining it. Industry analysts are now warning that laptop and desktop prices in India could climb by as much as 35% this year, and the reason isn’t tariffs or currency swings — it’s something much more specific: the world is running out of RAM.

What’s actually causing this?

The short explanation is that AI is eating the memory supply chain. To run the data centers behind tools like ChatGPT and Gemini, AI companies are buying enormous volumes of DRAM (the chips that make up your device’s RAM) and NAND flash (the chips behind SSD storage). Tom’s Hardware reports that data centers alone are expected to consume 70% of all memory chips manufactured in 2026. When your biggest customers are throwing unlimited budgets at the newest, highest-capacity chips, manufacturers naturally shift production toward serving them — and the older, cheaper memory that used to go into consumer laptops and phones starts drying up.

The price movement has already been dramatic. One Australian retailer tracked a 32GB DDR5 memory kit going from roughly A$225 in September 2025 to A$360 by early 2026 — a 60% jump in a matter of months. And it’s not over: reports out of Chosun Biz, citing preliminary supply contracts with Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, suggest DDR5 prices could still climb another 45% by the end of 2026.

What this means for the actual device sitting in a store?

Here’s where it gets relevant if you’re actually shopping. Because memory now makes up such a large share of what it costs to build a laptop — TrendForce estimates storage and memory could account for up to 23% of total laptop material costs — manufacturers have two options: raise prices, or quietly reduce specs to keep prices where they are. Reports point to both Dell and Lenovo planning to ship more mid-range and budget laptops with 8GB of RAM instead of the 16GB that’s become standard over the last few years. On phones, TrendForce predicts entry-level models could drop back down to 4GB base configurations.

That’s a real trade-off worth understanding before you buy: the sticker price on a budget laptop might look similar to what you’d have paid a year ago, but the actual memory inside it could be half of what you’d expect for that price point. If you’re comparing two similarly priced laptops right now, checking the RAM spec matters more than it has in years.

In India specifically, IDC data cited by Moneycontrol shows devices that used to sell in the ₹30,000–₹35,000 range are already creeping toward ₹45,000. IDC analyst Bharath Shenoy has said this pricing pressure could persist for six to seven quarters — meaning relief may not really show up until sometime in the second half of 2027.

Is this going to slow the market down?

It already is, on paper. Both IDC and Counterpoint Research are forecasting India’s PC shipments could decline by roughly 7-8% in 2026 as buyers delay purchases or settle for lower-spec machines instead of paying the higher prices. That’s a meaningful shift for a market that, per IDC, had just come off its strongest year on record in 2025 — a good reminder that even a hot market can cool fast when a core component gets expensive enough.

There’s one more wrinkle worth knowing about, and it connects to something well outside the tech industry: several analysts have flagged that continued tension around the Strait of Hormuz could indirectly add further pressure to semiconductor production and shipping, on top of the AI-driven demand that’s already straining supply. It’s a reminder that “just a chip shortage” rarely stays contained to one industry.

So — buy now, or wait?

There’s no single right answer here, but the data points in a fairly consistent direction. If you were already planning a laptop, phone, or desktop upgrade for later in 2026, moving that purchase earlier rather than later is the more defensible choice, since most forecasts have prices climbing through the year rather than easing. Several outlets covering this story specifically framed late-2025 sales events as the last realistic window before the bulk of the price increases hit — which tells you where informed opinion was leaning even before the year started.

If you don’t need to upgrade urgently, it’s also reasonable to just hold on to what you have a little longer. A device that’s a year or two old and running fine doesn’t suddenly need replacing because component prices went up — the pressure here is really on anyone who was already close to buying.

What to actually check before you buy?

A few practical things worth doing differently in this specific market, rather than a normal year:

Check the RAM spec, not just the price tier.

Two laptops at the same price point in 2026 might have genuinely different memory configurations in a way they wouldn’t have a year or two ago. Don’t assume “similarly priced” means “similarly equipped.”

Be skeptical of unusually low prices on 16GB+ configurations.

If a deal looks like it’s ignoring the price environment entirely, it’s worth double-checking specs, seller reputation, and whether it’s old stock versus current inventory.

Consider whether you actually need the latest chip generation.

Since so much of the current price pressure is coming from memory specifically rather than processors, a machine with a slightly older CPU but adequate RAM may age better than a newer CPU paired with a memory configuration that’s been trimmed to hit a price point.

For smartphones, pay attention to the base storage/RAM tier especially on budget models,

since that’s exactly where manufacturers are most likely to cut corners to protect pricing.

None of this is financial advice for a major purchase — it’s just what the current supply and pricing data actually supports. The one thing that seems fairly solid across nearly every forecast is that this isn’t a short-term blip that resolves in a month or two; it’s a structural shift tied to how much memory AI infrastructure is consuming, and it’s expected to keep shaping device prices for at least the next year or so.