The memory shortage is no longer just a problem for PC builders hunting for affordable RAM. Smaller phone and laptop makers are now changing how they design, manufacture, and price their products as the supply crunch threatens to stretch through 2027 and potentially beyond. And according to a report by Reuters, the bigger problem isn’t even the price anymore. It’s getting enough memory in the first place.
Smaller brands are getting creative because RAM isn’t playing nice
The squeeze is being driven partly by memory manufacturers prioritizing more lucrative products for the booming AI industry. Meanwhile, conventional DRAM and other memory used in consumer devices remain under pressure. TrendForce expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise another 13% to 18% this quarter, although that’s considerably slower than the 93% to 98% increase seen in the first quarter.
Fairphone, Framework and Jolla are among the companies taking different approaches to the problem. Fairphone has kept its prices unchanged despite higher component costs. Framework, meanwhile, is placing non-cancellable orders much earlier than usual, even without knowing the final price, delivery timing, or exact volume. That’s basically ordering your groceries months in advance and hoping inflation doesn’t eat your wallet.
Jolla has taken a more hardware-focused approach, designing two motherboard variants so it can switch between combined memory packages and individual chips. The company also stress-tests samples from every incoming batch to make sure new memory hasn’t been passed off as refurbished stock. Framework has gone the modular route too, allowing customers to install memory salvaged from older machines.
And the financial impact is becoming difficult to ignore. Fairphone CEO Raymond van Eck told Reuters that memory can account for almost 60% of the bill of materials for phones costing around $400. Companies are therefore handling the pain differently: Framework adjusts prices as costs arrive, Jolla has introduced a paid memory upgrade, while Fairphone has so far chosen not to raise prices.
The memory crunch could reshape the gadgets we buy
The situation could become even more interesting if the shortage lasts as long as some industry executives expect. SK Hynix’s CEO had previously warned that 2027 could be the industry’s worst year from a supply perspective, with demand potentially exceeding capacity beyond 2030. Counterpoint Research has also forecast a 13.9% decline in smartphone shipments this year, partly because rising memory costs are making cheaper phones increasingly difficult to build profitably.
For consumers, that could mean higher prices, fewer cheap devices and fewer generous memory configurations. For smaller brands, meanwhile, the game is becoming less about simply designing a good phone or laptop and more about securing the components needed to actually build it. The companies that can adapt their hardware, lock down supply, and absorb some of the cost may have a better chance of surviving the squeeze.