Taipei, March 24, 2026, 01:41 (GMT+8)
- TrendForce expects average smartphone storage capacity to rise 4.8% in 2026 despite higher NAND prices. 1
- On-device AI features can require 40 GB to 60 GB of local storage, helping push premium phones toward 256 GB starting tiers. 1
- Higher memory costs are still expected to lift phone prices and squeeze lower-end demand this year. 2
Average smartphone storage capacity is set to rise 4.8% in 2026 even as NAND flash — the memory that stores apps, photos and files — gets more expensive, TrendForce said on Monday. The researcher said brands are dropping low-capacity models and adding more room for AI features that run directly on the handset. 1
The timing matters because the AI build-out is already soaking up global memory supply and pushing costs higher across consumer electronics. Gartner said smartphone prices could rise 13% by the end of 2026, while TrendForce said suppliers were likely to push further smartphone memory price increases in the second quarter. 3
TrendForce said AI features processed locally rather than in the cloud now need 40 GB to 60 GB of system storage for local model files and temporary data. It pointed to Apple’s iPhone 17 range moving to a 256 GB minimum, and Apple’s own specification pages show the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro start at that level. 1
Samsung is moving the same way. Its Galaxy S26 line starts at 256 GB, and Reuters reported last month that the South Korean firm raised prices on some S26 models in the United States and South Korea as memory costs climbed. 4
The pressure is uneven. In China, Counterpoint said Apple was better placed than rivals to absorb rising memory costs, while OPPO and vivo raised prices on some existing models this month and Huawei could benefit from cheaper domestic memory supply. 5
Samsung co-CEO Jun Young-hyun last week called the chip cycle an “unprecedented supercycle,” but warned that tariff uncertainty and other cost burdens could still hit phones and other consumer devices. Greg Matson, senior vice president at Solidigm, said AI systems coming later this year could require 35% more storage than earlier versions. “It’s going to be tight,” he said of storage supply through 2030. 6
Research firms are already putting numbers on the fallout. Francisco Jeronimo, vice president for Worldwide Client Devices at IDC, described the squeeze as a “tsunami-like shock” from the memory supply chain, while Gartner’s Ranjit Atwal called it “the steepest contraction in device shipments witnessed in over a decade.” Both firms expect lower-end phones to take the harder hit as vendors protect margins. 7
But the shift to bigger storage is not assured across the board. TrendForce said mid- and low-end brands are still cutting higher-cost models and turning larger capacities into optional upgrades, and IDC’s Nabila Popal warned the sub-$100 smartphone segment could become “permanently uneconomical” even after memory prices settle. If buyers balk at further price increases, 256 GB may remain a premium default for longer than vendors hope. 1
Still, TrendForce said 128 GB could start to fade from mainstream Android phones by the end of 2026, with 256 GB emerging as the new standard. For handset makers, that would mark a clear break with a year that began with talk of cutting specs to protect margins. 1
