Cell phones will increase up to 30% due to the shortage of memories due to the high demand for Artificial Intelligence

The local price increase will take place in the coming daysmanufacturers and distributors anticipated, and will especially affect cheaper phoneswhich in Argentina represents more than half of the market.

The situation occurs at the same time Tariffs on imported cell phones were progressively removed between May 2025 and last January to generate greater competition and thus lower prices in general. A year ago, tariffs were lowered 16% a 8%and at the beginning of 2026 they were eliminated, while internal taxes went from 19% a 9,5%.

In this way, the sector recognizes that there were practically no price increases so far this year and? Compared to May 2025, prices moved around 20%considering that in that month prices were still in effect with tariffs for the remaining stock of cell phones that paid that import cost. Discounting this effect, the increase would have been greater, they pointed out.

DRAM and NAND memories are essential components of smartphonesand computers and servers, which would also become more expensive soon.

The first are those known as RAM and temporarily store data from programs and applications in use. The second ones are the internal storage that determine the capacity of a computersuch as 128 or 256 gigabytes.

As explained to Clarion the leading brands of the sector in Argentina, These inputs rose between 150% and 200% since December and pointed out that entry-level devices will be the most affectedsince the chips have a greater impact on their public price.

Instead, those with the highest status will be the least affectedsince they incorporate other more expensive components, such as screens, cameras and sensors, which liquefies the weight of the memories.

“On cell phones US$ 100memory represented between 30% and 40% of the total cost before. Now, it began to have a greater weight than the final value to the consumer: each chip costs between US$130 and US$170, more than the phone itself”, they graphed on one of the brands.

Faced with this, they pointed out that They implement different strategies to contain the rise in prices: prioritize the production of models with less RAM, focus on models premium to absorb the higher cost of memories and obtain more margins, expand the space so that the user can insert a micro USB or offer more cloud storage.

In another brand, they pointed out that “the greatest impact will be felt by upcoming releases” and they anticipated that the market will suffer this year, after 2025 closed with around 6.2 million units sold in Argentina. They predict that 2026 will end with close sales to 5.3 million.

The tax reduction that is diluted by the increase in taxes is combined with weak consumption. The first quarter was “one of the worst,” they admitted, with less than 1 million units sold16% less year-on-year. And they anticipated that, although a modest recovery path is entered in 2027 and a more solid one in 2028, It will take time to recover the levels of recent years.

Along these lines, in a recent report, the firm IDCone of the main analysts of the technology industry, warned that 2026 will be a year of falling sales for the first time in the history of the smartphones. He estimated that the decline will be around 12,9% and that the panorama would only normalize in 2029.

By the end of 2025, IDC expected a stable global market, with a drop of just 0,9% in number of units. However, he adjusted the projection upwards and, if his forecast is fulfilled, it will imply a volume of between 1,100 and 1,200 million cell phones, the lowest level in more than a decade. Counterpoint Researchanother consulting firm, also projected a drop in 12% in the number of units for this year.

¿What changed in a few months? After oversupply and depressed prices between 2022 and 2024, the growing demand for AI infrastructure means that chip manufacturers are now prioritizing production for datacenterssince today it is more profitable for them. This year, 70% of global manufacturing will be for them. This reallocation of capacity left electronics with limited supply and, therefore, with higher costs.

In this regard, the brands that assemble part of the cell phones they sell in the country in Tierra del Fuego and import another part implemented production cuts and inventory adjustments.