The global consumer electronics market is going through a period of high tension, characterized by an open clash between the major semiconductor suppliers and the leading smartphone manufacturers.
At the center of this dispute are the massive and ongoing price hikes for memory chips, driven by the voracious demand for components for servers and AI-related technologies.
Facing price increases deemed unsustainable to maintain healthy profit margins, leading brands such as OPPO, Vivo and Xiaomi have begun to oppose a clear resistance, going so far as to reject commercial offers from giants like Samsung.
The exasperation of smartphone manufacturers is evident; they are no longer willing to passively endure rising production costs.
Chinese brands oppose Samsung memory price increases
Negotiations in recent months have registered a level of discontent that is now critical among buyers.
According to recent information from the supply chain, Oppo and Vivo have rejected in bulk the quotes for DRAM modules proposed by Samsung for the Q3 of this year, despite the percentage increase requested being lower than that applied in the previous quarters.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi sent a clear signal to the market by lifting its 2026 shipment projections from 90 million to 110 million units, a 16% increase focused on the more affordable models.
This move reflects the internal belief within the company that the memory market is about to reach a tipping point, beyond which prices will necessarily stabilize or fall. In recent months, precisely because of the prohibitive cost of chips, Xiaomi had been forced to cut its forecasts twice, from the originally projected 170 million units by the end of 2025.
The escalation of costs and its impact on affordable devices
The root of this crisis lies in an unprecedented price hike cycle started in the second half of 2025. Data show a dizzying escalation: in the first quarter of 2026, DRAM contract prices rose by 90-95%, while NAND Flash memories grew up to 60%.
The situation has a particularly devastating impact on low-end smartphones. The cheaper memories are literally disappearing from price lists. Since April 2026, Samsung has stopped accepting new orders for LPDDR4 modules, following similar decisions by Micron and SK Hynix.
For phones sold under 200 euros, memory costs now account for more than 30% of the total assembly materials. To maintain operating margins, retail prices of entry-level devices should increase by almost 50%, an operation impossible for the end customer to absorb.
Priority to servers and production cuts
Despite the firm stance of the Chinese companies, experts remain cautious about an immediate price drop. The world’s main producers are diverting their resources and the most advanced manufacturing capacities toward the lucrative high-bandwidth memory (HBM), needed to power the insatiable AI market.
Currently, about 70% of global capacity is absorbed by data centers, sacrificing volumes destined for smartphones and computers.
Furthermore, to maintain high profitability, foundries are actively reducing chip production for the consumer sector. Projections for 2026 confirm that companies like Samsung, SK Hynix and Kioxia have planned further cuts to NAND wafer volumes, demonstrating how artificial scarcity dynamics remain the main tool to defend current price policies.
