24GB RAM Becomes More Expensive High-end and Midrange Phones Likely To Offer 16GB Instead

The era of widespread adoption of large memory configurations in smartphones, notably the 24GB+1TB combination for mid-to-high-end models, appears to be coming to an end due to rising material costs. Chinese tipster’s sources indicate that configurations like 16+512GB and 16GB+1TB are set to become the new standard for high-end devices.

Reports have surfaced that major memory manufacturers, including Samsung and Micron, plan to increase DRAM prices by 15% to 20% in the first quarter of 2024. This trend of rising memory prices is expected to continue throughout the year.

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Memory manufacturers have already signed new supply agreements with smartphone brands, leading to higher prices for DRAM and NAND flash chips compared to current contracts. Industry analysts believe the price increases are aimed at improving profit margins, with a particular focus on shifting from NAND Flash to DRAM, especially DDR4 and DDR5 types.

As a result, the trend of equipping smartphones with 24GB of RAM, which gained momentum in the latter half of last year, has abruptly ceased in the first half of this year. Most manufacturers have reverted to 16GB of RAM, with some flagship models even offering 8GB versions.

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