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Despite a year that saw tariff disruptions, economic turmoil, and restrictions on household affordability, the mobile phone industry ended 2025 with 1.9% year-over-year growth, according to the International Data Corporation. Premium phones (priced at about $800 and up) sold well and apple and Samsung It achieved the highest year-over-year growth among phones shipped, according to Latest IDC report. Together, these phones represent 39% of phones sold globally throughout the year, up from 37% in 2024.
But will this continue in 2026? The industry faces challenges ahead, all stemming from the shift in how people buy (or don’t buy) phones this year. The first challenge is the growing shortage of Random Access Memory (RAM), which has already affected the home PC market and is likely to manufacture phones. Even more expensive this year.
“While 2025 was a positive year for smartphones, the industry now faces very different expectations,” Ryan Reith, vice president of IDC’s global client devices group, said in the report. “The memory shortage, widely considered an unprecedented supply chain disruption, will cause the market to decline in 2026, and the duration of the shortage will ultimately determine the extent of the market contraction.”
The tech giants will be better off, as they will be able to secure better supply rates and price points, but the average phone price for an everyday consumer will likely rise due to rising costs, Reith wrote.
In 2025 we saw premium phones from companies like Apple, Google, Motorola, and Samsung.
It is uncertain when and where these price hikes will occur, but phone manufacturers may try to mitigate the impact on consumers, as companies did with tariffs last year.
Avi Greengart, president and principal analyst at Techsponential, predicts that price increases could be withheld or delayed again to avoid a slowdown in consumer buying. Companies may also tweak by adapting the phone’s specifications.
“You’ll see basic phone models without as much storage as you’ve had in the past, with higher prices moving to larger storage options,” Greengart told CNET. “We may see companies choosing components with cost-cutting in mind, such as sticking with last year’s premium display technology to save a few bucks instead of this year’s better panels.”
At the ultra-premium level, especially with similar devices Foldable It could cost around $2,000, and phone makers will likely have an easier time raising prices or accepting lower profit margins, Greengart said. But cheaper phones with lower margins won’t go away, as prices for entry-level and mid-range phones are expected to rise as well.
It’s still early in the year, and very few phones have been announced, and none have raised their prices significantly. with Consumer Electronics Show 2026 In the rearview, all eyes are on the upcoming 2026 Mobile World Congress in late February to give us an idea of how our phones might get more expensive — and by how much.
Watch this: The best phones of 2025