Taipei, March 24, 2026, 01:41 (GMT+8)
- Average smartphone storage is set to climb 4.8% in 2026, TrendForce says, even with NAND prices running higher.
- On-device AI is bumping storage needs up to 40–60 GB, prompting premium smartphones to start at 256 GB of storage.
- This year, pricier memory chips are likely to push up phone prices and put pressure on demand from budget buyers.
Smartphone storage sizes will climb by 4.8% in 2026, TrendForce said Monday, even with NAND flash prices heading higher. According to the researcher, phone makers are phasing out lower-capacity devices and making space for AI tools that operate on the device itself.
The AI ramp-up is putting a squeeze on worldwide memory supplies, and consumer electronics are feeling the pinch as costs climb. Smartphone prices could jump 13% by the end of 2026, according to Gartner. Over at TrendForce, analysts expect suppliers to tack on even more hikes for smartphone memory in the second quarter.
According to TrendForce, local AI features—not cloud-based ones—now require between 40 GB and 60 GB of storage just for the models and their temp files. The firm highlighted Apple’s move: iPhone 17 models shift baseline storage up to 256 GB, both for the regular and Pro versions, as confirmed by Apple’s spec pages.
Samsung’s got a similar approach. The Galaxy S26 series kicks off at 256 GB. Reuters said last month the South Korean tech giant hiked prices for certain S26 models in the U.S. and South Korea, blaming higher memory costs.
Pressure isn’t hitting everyone the same way. Counterpoint noted that Apple in China can weather higher memory prices better than most, while OPPO and vivo hiked some model prices earlier this month. Huawei, meanwhile, may see an edge from lower-cost domestic memory.
Samsung co-CEO Jun Young-hyun last week described the chip cycle as an “unprecedented supercycle,” though he flagged tariff uncertainty and rising costs as possible headwinds for phones and other consumer tech. Greg Matson, senior vice president at Solidigm, added that this year’s incoming AI systems might demand 35% more storage than previous models. “It’s going to be tight,” Matson said of storage supply prospects through 2030. Reuters
Research houses are already tallying up the damage. Francisco Jeronimo, who heads IDC’s Worldwide Client Devices group, labeled the supply chain shock “tsunami-like.” Ranjit Atwal at Gartner didn’t mince words either, calling it “the steepest contraction in device shipments witnessed in over a decade.” Both see lower-end phones bearing the brunt, as vendors zero in on keeping margins safe. Reuters
The move toward higher storage isn’t guaranteed everywhere. According to TrendForce, mid- and budget brands keep dropping pricier models, pushing larger capacities as extras instead of the standard. IDC’s Nabila Popal flagged a risk: sub-$100 smartphones might stay “permanently uneconomical” even once memory pricing cools. Should customers resist paying more, 256 GB could stick around as a premium baseline longer than manufacturers anticipate. TrendForce
TrendForce now expects 128 GB to slip out of the mainstream for Android devices by late 2026, as 256 GB moves into the standard slot. That shift would close the door on a year that opened with manufacturers mulling spec cuts to defend margins.
