Your next phone is about to cost more: here’s why prices are climbing

If your next phone feels pricier than the last one, it isn’t just you. Memory chip prices have risen nearly four-fold since September 2025, and manufacturers have responded by raising smartphone prices multiple times this year — pushing average prices up roughly 15% by the end of the June quarter, according to Counterpoint Research.

The knock-on effect has been a sharp pullback in demand. India’s smartphone shipments fell 10% year-on-year in the June quarter, the steepest quarterly decline in three years, last seen in the January-March period of 2023. Inflationary pressure and weaker discretionary spending pushed many consumers to simply delay their upgrades.

Budget buyers felt it most. Sales of phones priced below Rs 15,000 plunged 45% year-on-year, the sharpest fall of any segment, hitting Chinese brands hardest since they depend heavily on entry- and mid-range devices. Xiaomi, including Poco, slipped to fourth place with a 13.4% share, and Realme finished fifth at 10%, both hurt by repeated price hikes on their affordable line-ups. Oppo held third at 13.6% on the strength of pricier models above Rs 20,000, while Vivo stayed on top with 17.8% share despite its own double-digit sales decline.

To adapt to costlier components, several brands have widened their 4G portfolios in the affordable segment, betting value-conscious buyers will pick a cheaper 4G phone over a pricier 5G one until memory costs settle down. Counterpoint senior analyst Prachir Singh said the pressure has pushed Chinese brands’ combined market share to its lowest level for a second straight April-June quarter since 2020.

Not every price band suffered equally. Phones priced above Rs 45,000 stayed relatively stable, cushioned by NBFC and credit-card EMI plans that spread out the higher upfront cost — financing made up more than half of all mainline smartphone sales in the quarter. Samsung was the only top-five brand to grow shipments, up 2% year-on-year to 17.6% share, while Apple’s shipments slipped 3% as iPhone 17 demand ran into supply constraints and inventory shortages.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/by Victorgrigas