Flagship Memory Configurations on Android Phones Now Cost More Than Snapdragon Chips, Tipster Claims

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has now become a part of most people's daily lives. They use it for research or just to have a casual conversation. Recently, various reports have highlighted that the rise in AI adoption poses a risk to white-collar jobs, replacing workforces in companies. However, another significant concern that has come up in recent months is the memory component shortage due to an unprecedented increase in AI adoption, leading smartphone prices to increase. On Thursday, a tipster claimed that the top-of-the-line RAM and storage configurations now cost more to acquire than a flagship Snapdragon chipset. Similarly, Apple is reportedly buying storage components at higher prices.

Prices of Flagship Android Phones, Foldables Expected to Increase

In a post on Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, tipster Digital Chat Station (translated from Chinese) has claimed that the cost of acquiring 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and 1TB of UFS 4.1 onboard storage has surpassed the cost of buying Qualcomm's flagship 3nm octa core Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset for smartphone makers. In the second quarter of this fiscal year, the price of the top-end 16GB+1TB RAM and storage configuration could further increase to CNY 2,300 (roughly Rs. 31,000).

If this is true, then the smartphone industry as a whole could be looking for ways to offset the increased costs by increasing the prices of their handsets, affecting customers. The leaker claims that the price rise is likely to impact phones of all price segments, premium offerings costing over CNY 10,000 (about Rs. 1,35,000), mid-range phones, and entry-level handsets. He added that foldables and candybar flagship smartphones could see a retail price increase by about CNY 1,000 (roughly Rs. 13,500.

However, the leaker claims that there is also a silver lining to this as OEMs are have to upgrade the hardware on their phones to justify the price increase. Meanwhile, tech firms are also looking to bring new and innovative features to their devices. On the other hand, Apple is also reportedly feeling the pinch of the supply chain restructuring. The tipster said that Apple's 2TB storage configuration is now selling at a CNY 3,300 (about Rs. 45,000) premium.

Recently, a report highlighted that Vivo, and its sub-brand iQOO, are increasing the prices of their smartphones in China. Similarly, Oppo and OnePlus have also reportedly revised the prices of their handsets.