Carl Pei Explains Why Your Next Smartphone Will Cost More; Also Teases Upcoming Storage Upgrades

Nothing appears to be gearing up for a price increase across its upcoming smartphone lineup. According to a company executive, this development aligns with broader smartphone industry trends, where rising memory component costs are said to be putting pressure on manufacturers' margins, translating into higher retail prices for consumers. Nothing is also expected to bring about upgrades in memory type on some mid-range models, further fueling the potential price hike.

Nothing Phones to Get More Expensive

Nothing Co-Founder and CEO Carl Pei's latest article on X talks about 2026 being an “unprecedented” year for consumer electronics, and the smartphone industry in particular. The post mentions the rising memory NAND and DRAM prices, as larger volumes are being diverted to data centres to fulfil the AI infrastructure demand.

Carl Pei confirmed that the company plans to launch several models in the first quarter (Q1) of 2026. As the memory prices increase, brands, including Nothing, will have a choice of either raising prices by 30 percent or more, and consumers will have to bear the brunt, or downgrade specifications to manage costs.

The executive said that Nothing will opt for the former, and prices of Nothing smartphones launching in Q1 2026 will witness an “inevitable” increase.

One notable change tipped for upcoming Nothing phones is a shift to UFS 3.1 storage. This upgrade is most likely to come with upcoming mid-range models. Nothing's current mid-range handsets, like Nothing Phone 3a and CMF Phone 2 Pro, come equipped with UFS 2.2 storage. The shift to UFS 3.1 is potentially expected to offer faster read and write speeds, along with better system responsiveness.

Carl Pei, however, highlighted Nothing's cost advantages compared to industry behemoths, as it focused more on delivering on the user experience rather than winning the specifications race. The official claims that 2026 will be the year when the “specs race” ends.

Several brands have already hinted towards price increase for their smartphones. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2026, Samsung's President and Chief Marketing Officer, Won-Jin Lee, reportedly stated that the ongoing memory chip shortage is worsening, and it may prompt the company to reprice its devices in the coming days.

In a recent conversation with Gadgets 360, Francis Wong, Chief Marketing Officer at Realme India, stated that smartphones launching in 2026 will be more expensive than those with similar specifications in 2025. “This trend is unstoppable and will continue till H2 2027,” the official added.

More concrete information is expected as Nothing prepares for official announcements later this year.