Nothing says your next phone will be more expensive, specs race is over

RAM prices have shot through the roof, and this crisis affects smartphones, too. In fact, companies like Xiaomi and Samsung have warned of higher phone prices in 2026. Now, Nothing co-founder Carl Pei has echoed these warnings, while giving us a hint of what to expect from Nothing phones later this year.

In a post on LinkedIn and Twitter titled “Why your next smartphone will cost more,” Pei called 2026 an unprecedented year for electronics:

2026 will be an unprecedented year for consumer electronics, and the smartphone industry in particular. For fifteen years, the smartphone industry relied on a single, reliable assumption: components would inevitably get cheaper. While short-term volatility existed, the long-term downward trend in memory and display costs allowed for annual spec bumps without price hikes. In 2026, that model has finally broken, driven by a sharp and unprecedented surge in memory costs.

The Nothing co-founder also hinted at what to expect from the company’s products later this year:

2026 is the year the “specs race” ends. As the industry resets, experience becomes the only real differentiator. That is exactly what Nothing was built for. The era of cheap silicon is over. The era of intentional design is just beginning.

In other words, it sounds like people who were disappointed by Nothing phone specs in 2025 might be more disappointed in 2026. Nevertheless, Nothing has indeed emphasized factors like design and software over specs since its inception. So this situation doesn’t necessarily represent a major strategic change for the firm.

In saying so, rival manufacturers have been around longer and tend to have more feature-rich software. Therefore, Nothing will really need to build on its visually distinct Android skin if it hopes to offer a more feature-filled experience.

Higher component prices could also hit Nothing harder than other manufacturers, as the company can’t leverage economies of scale to the same extent as rivals. So an Apple, Samsung, or Xiaomi could achieve lower prices by ordering parts in large volumes. However, Nothing doesn’t ship nearly as many phones as these companies, which means it might not be able to use high-volume orders to secure better prices.

In any event, Pei’s statement clearly suggests that the company might offer phones with minimal hardware upgrades (or even some downgrades) in 2026. But you only need to look at Samsung and OnePlus to realize Nothing won’t be alone this year.