Cheaper smartphones will become less common: retailers named the reasons

Cheaper smartphones on the Ukrainian market will become less common, and some budget models have already risen in price by 30–70%. One of the main reasons is the rising cost of memory, which is gradually affecting the price of most categories of electronics. This is stated in an article by Glavkom, “The era of ‘golden’ smartphones and laptops. Why electronics are suddenly getting more expensive.”

Commerical Director of the Comfy chain, Andriy Kovalenko, told Glavkom that the increase in memory prices has already impacted laptops, PCs, tablets, smart TVs, and monitors.

“The increase in memory prices has already noticeably affected the entire segment of devices with RAM—laptops, PCs, tablets, smart TVs, and monitors. The new prices are already built into the cost of fresh models, and each new shipment is more expensive than the previous one,” Kovalenko says. According to him, price changes have been most noticeable in laptops. In the PC segment there is still some stock of components at old prices, but the retailer’s representative predicts it may run out by the end of September.

At the same time, the Ukrainian market is facing not only rising prices but also shortages in certain categories of devices. In particular, problems are arising with budget laptops due to shortages of processors and memory. Logistics, storage of goods, and the consequences of the war additionally affect prices.

“It is important to understand: there is practically no stock left in the country at old prices. Demand at the beginning of the year was abnormally high, and the market entered a new price reality already at the start of spring,” Kovalenko emphasizes.

Commercial Director of the Allo marketplace, Yevhen Kushnirov, also notes that rising memory prices are gradually affecting most categories of electronics that use DRAM and NAND components. “In the tablet and laptop categories we are already seeing price changes for certain models and their configurations. Depending on the brand, memory capacity, specifications, and the comparison period, increases can be approximately from 15% to 35%,” Kushnirov says.

According to him, the most vulnerable segment has become budget smartphones. The cost of components in such models takes up a significant part of the final price, so manufacturers find it harder to offset price increases through their own margins.

As a result, some budget models have already risen in price by 30–70%. At the same time, the share of the most affordable devices is gradually shrinking: they are becoming pricier faster, and the price gap with more feature-rich models is narrowing. “Consumers are increasingly choosing mid-price segment devices that have a better camera, larger battery capacity, a more powerful processor, a bigger screen, and a longer expected service life,” notes the Allo representative.

Kushnirov predicts that pressure on the budget segment will persist through the end of the year. This concerns not only further price increases but also the gradual reduction in the number of the cheapest models on the shelves. “Manufacturers may move to more expensive but better-balanced configurations to maintain an acceptable level of device characteristics,” the retail representative expects.

At the same time, the smartphone market in monetary terms has already grown by approximately 30%, although the number of devices sold remains at the level of the same period last year. According to Allo’s estimate, by the end of 2026 the number of smartphones sold may decline by approximately 5%, while in monetary terms the market may grow by 35%.