- Smartphone prices are increasing, despite upcoming festive season discounts.
- Rising memory costs, weaker rupee, supply pressures cause increases.
- This trend impacts entry-level phones and future iPhone models.
- Festive deals may only offset underlying price increases.
Smartphone market is entering the 2026 festive season with an unusual problem: consumers may get discounts during the biggest sales of the year, but the phones themselves are becoming more expensive. Rising memory costs, a weaker rupee and continued supply-chain pressure are pushing up handset prices, potentially changing the calculation for buyers planning a premium upgrade.
For years, waiting for Diwali and other festive sales has been a straightforward strategy for smartphone shoppers. This year, however, buyers considering expensive devices such as foldables may have another factor to consider: the possibility that higher component costs will limit how generous future discounts can be.
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Smartphone Prices Are Already Moving Higher
The pressure is not merely theoretical. India’s smartphone industry recorded a 7.9 per cent increase in prices in the first five months of 2026, according to TechArc data reported by Business Standard. The tracker showed prices increasing by roughly 2.16 per cent every month through May, with entry-level and base models bearing some of the sharpest impact.
Other research points to an even wider gap between segments. A Financial Express report citing Techarc found that entry-level smartphone prices had increased by as much as 40 per cent over the previous year, while some premium flagship models had actually become cheaper by up to 20 per cent.
The broader market is also showing signs of premiumisation. CMR’s latest Q2 2026 data indicates that India’s overall smartphone market declined 10 per cent year-on-year, even as the super-premium segment priced above Rs 50,000 grew 72 per cent.
IDC data cited in the original market assessment similarly points to fewer devices being sold while average selling prices continue to climb, suggesting that consumers are increasingly spending more on the phones they do buy.
AI Is Making Smartphone Memory More Expensive
One of the biggest reasons behind the pricing pressure is memory.
The explosive expansion of AI data centres has increased demand for high-bandwidth memory, encouraging chipmakers to prioritise more profitable components used in AI infrastructure. That has squeezed supplies of conventional DRAM and NAND memory used in smartphones, laptops and other consumer electronics.
The impact is particularly severe for cheaper phones. The Indian Express reported that memory’s share of the total cost of a low-end smartphone has climbed from less than 10 per cent to more than 40 per cent, while memory prices have more than tripled since October 2025.
The result is a difficult equation for manufacturers. Cutting memory specifications can make a phone less competitive, while absorbing higher component costs puts pressure on already-thin margins. Raising prices, meanwhile, risks weakening demand.
There is also the currency factor. A depreciating rupee makes imported components more expensive for Indian manufacturers and brands, adding another layer of pressure to already elevated component costs.
The iPhone Could Also Become More Expensive
The pricing pressure is not restricted to Android smartphones.
Apple has already increased prices for several products in India, including Macs, iPads and HomePod devices, amid the global memory-cost surge. The iPhone was not included in those revisions at the time, but reports indicate that the situation could change with the next generation.
Recent reports have pointed to potentially higher prices for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro models, with estimates suggesting that Apple’s bill of materials could rise substantially because of memory and other component costs. One report citing Counterpoint Research estimates a possible $250-$350 increase for the iPhone 18 Pro Max, although Apple’s final retail pricing decision remains unknown.
That makes the iPhone another important indicator of where the premium smartphone market could be heading. If Apple passes a meaningful portion of higher component costs to customers, it would reinforce the broader trend already visible across India’s smartphone industry.
Why Foldable Buyers Have More to Consider
Foldables occupy an unusual position in this environment. They are already among the most expensive smartphones available, while requiring some of the industry’s costliest technologies, including flexible OLED displays, specialised hinges and high-end processors. Many also come with large memory and storage configurations.
Samsung’s latest Galaxy Z Fold8 illustrates the price point clearly. The phone starts at Rs 1,79,999 in India for the 12GB RAM and 256GB storage configuration, while higher-storage versions go up to Rs 2,39,999. Samsung also offers the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, which starts at Rs 1,99,999 and rises to Rs 2,59,999 for the 16GB/1TB variant.
Yet demand for the category remains strong. Samsung said its latest Z-series foldables generated more than 271,000 pre-orders in India within 72 hours of their July 22 launch, compared with 15 days required by the previous generation to reach a similar number.
Globally, Counterpoint Research expects foldable smartphone shipments to grow 21 per cent in 2026. Apple is also expected to enter the foldable market this year, potentially giving the category another major boost.
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Should You Wait For The Festive Sale?
That does not mean festive sales will disappear or that every smartphone will become more expensive overnight. Discounts, exchange bonuses, bank offers and no-cost EMI deals can still make major purchases cheaper during the season.
But the old assumption that waiting automatically guarantees the lowest effective price is becoming less reliable.
A Rs 1.8 lakh foldable discounted during a festive sale could still represent good value. However, if manufacturers raise prices before or after the sale because of memory, currency and component pressures, the headline discount may simply offset part of an underlying price increase.
For consumers who have already decided that they want a foldable, the more sensible approach may therefore be to compare the current effective price, exchange benefits and financing options against the likely festive offers rather than waiting blindly for a sale date.
The smartphone market is changing from a volume game to a value-driven one. Buyers are purchasing fewer devices, but premium smartphones are commanding greater attention. At the same time, the AI industry’s appetite for memory is creating costs that are beginning to reach consumers.
Festive sales will still bring deals. The bigger question in 2026 is whether those deals will be enough to overcome a smartphone market where the starting price itself is steadily moving upward.
