It’s not just PCs. IDC warns that the average selling prices for phones, especially lower-end and midrange devices, are expected to jump this quarter and into 2026.
If you’re preparing to buy a phone next year, start saving now. The ongoing memory shortage means you might have to pay $70 more for a new smartphone, according to research firm IDC.
The memory crunch has already sent DDR5 RAM prices through the roof. But on Tuesday, IDC warned that the “the ongoing global memory shortage is expected to constrain supply and raise prices” for smartphones into 2026.
IDC analyst Anthony Scarsella tells us that the global average selling price (ASP) for phones reached $440 in Q3. „Next quarter we project they will reach $511“, he says, as tech giants hoard GPUs for their AI data centers.
For the full year in 2026, IDC projects the ASP will reach $465, up from $457 for 2025. Smartphone vendors might try to offset the surge in memory costs by trimming expenses elsewhere.
