Have Mobile Phones Become More Expensive? Are Foldable Screens the “Life-Saving Straw”? An In-Depth Analysis of the Changes in the Mobile Phone Industry in 2026
Hello everyone, I’m your financial journalist friend. Today, we’re going to discuss a topic that might really hit your wallet: Why have mobile phones suddenly become more expensive in 2026?
If you’ve been following tech news recently, you’ve noticed an unusual phenomenon: for the past 20 years, there’s been an unwavering rule in the mobile phone industry—that “time is on the manufacturers’ side,” meaning products have become cheaper over time, with last year’s flagship features becoming standard in mid-range models this year. However, in 2026, this rule has been broken. Giants like Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, Apple, and Samsung have not only failed to reduce prices but have also increased them collectively, with some models seeing price hikes of up to 1000 yuan.
What’s more interesting is that the reason behind these price increases and the confidence they have to do so all revolve around one type of product: foldable screens.
Today, I’ll explain the logic behind this in simple terms. We’ll break down these changes in five key areas.
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1. The Collapse of the Fundamental Logic: Why “Getting Cheaper Over Time” No Longer Works
In the past, when we bought mobile phones, we knew we could wait for prices to drop because of a well-known principle in manufacturing called “Le Chatelier’s Principle”—the larger the production volume, the lower the cost. Mobile phone manufacturers exploited this by selling large quantities, squeezing their suppliers and thus making profits.
But in 2026, this game of “time for cost reduction” no longer works.
Why? Because the mobile phone industry is no longer the only major customer in the memory market.
Today, AI models require massive amounts of HBM (high-bandwidth memory) and server DRAM for training and inference. These types of memory generate high profits and stable demand, so memory manufacturers (such as Samsung, Hynix, and Micron) prefer to invest their production capacity and funds in AI rather than in the memory used in mobile phones, which has lower margins.
As a result, mobile phone manufacturers can no longer compete with AI data centers for memory supply.
The numbers speak for themselves: in the first quarter of 2026, the price of DRAM used in mobile phones increased by more than 50%, and NAND Flash memory prices soared by 90%. By the second quarter, the cost of memory in mobile phones even surpassed that of processors, making it the most expensive component.
It’s like if you opened a bakery, and the flour suddenly became more expensive because it was being used to build rockets. You can’t tell your customers, “The price of bread has gone up because rockets need flour”; they won’t accept that. So, manufacturers have no choice but to raise prices or find new solutions.
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2. The Embarrassing Situation of Collective Price Hikes: Traditional Phones Are in a Dead End
Faced with soaring costs, manufacturers immediately thought of raising prices. On September 1, 2026, Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and other companies increased the prices of their models on the same day. The Xiaomi 17 series saw a price increase of 300 yuan, and the Huawei Mate 80 series by 800 yuan.
The problem is that consumers don’t perceive the value of additional memory.
If you add a telephoto lens to a phone, consumers can see and feel the benefit; but increasing memory from 8GB to 16GB or from 256GB to 512GB doesn’t make much of a difference in their daily use, yet they have to pay more.
This has led to traditional flagships being squeezed from both sides:
1. Cost side: Rising memory prices drive up overall costs.
2. Demand side: Consumers are unwilling to pay extra for invisible memory upgrades.
The iPhone 18 Pro is a classic example. Its price increased by 1000 yuan even though the memory capacity remained the same. As a result, it was sold for less than its official price on e-commerce platforms right after release. This shows that simply raising prices for traditional phones isn’t a sustainable strategy. Manufacturers need a product that consumers see as “worth the extra cost.”
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3. The “Magical Identity” of Foldable Screens: From “Tablets” to “Mobile Phones”
Since traditional phones can’t keep prices low, manufacturers turned to foldable screens.
There’s a clever business logic at play: “Adding a folding feature to a tablet won’t get you the same price as a phone; but if you turn a phone into an expandable tablet, you can double the price.”
This might sound like a play on words, but it’s about changing the pricing framework:
- Tablets are seen as productivity tools, priced between 2000 and 5000 yuan.
- Mobile phones are considered status symbols and high-frequency personal devices, priced between 5000 and over 10000 yuan.
Foldable screens, especially the large-scale foldables (with 7-8-inch inner screens, close to the size of a tablet), effectively leverage the status associated with mobile phones. Consumers are willing to pay a higher premium because phones are seen as a form of social currency. Products like the Huawei Pura X Max, Xiaomi 18 Fold, and Apple iPhone Duo are no longer just “cheap tablets” but “more advanced mobile phones.”
Data supports this:
- Huawei Pura X Max (starting at 10999 yuan): Sold over 1.2 million units in 4 months.
- Xiaomi 18 Fold (starting at 10999 yuan): Sales increased by 310% compared to the previous generation.
- Samsung Z Fold8 (starting at 12999 yuan): Pre-orders were so strong that production was increased from 2.8 million to 3.8 million units.
More importantly, foldable screens make price hikes seem “reasonable.” The same increase in memory cost would be devastating for a traditional phone priced at 7000 yuan, but for a foldable phone at 15000 yuan, manufacturers can still make a profit. Foldable screens offer the opportunity to reset pricing.
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4. The Limitations of the “Life-Saving Straw”: Foldable Screens Can Provide Temporary Relief, but Not a Long-Term Solution
Although foldable screens have served as a cover for price hikes, we can’t be overly optimistic. This “straw” is actually quite fragile:
- Market Growth is Limited: According to Counterpoint, global foldable screen shipments declined by 13% in the first half of 2026. This is because, aside from Apple’s contribution in the second half of the year, other manufacturers’ shipments were shrinking. Without Apple, the foldable screen market would have shrunk even more. Foldable screens are still a niche, high-end market and not yet mainstream.
- Costs Remain Uncontrolled: Despite price hikes, foldable screens haven’t managed to reduce costs effectively. For example, the Samsung Z Fold8 removed the telephoto lens to reduce weight and cost. The Samsung Z TriFold is even expected to result in a loss per unit due to high development, manufacturing, and quality issues.
- Formalities are Converging: Over the years, foldable screen designs have varied (flip, clamshell, triple-fold), but in 2026, all major manufacturers have focused on the 7-8-inch format.
- Premium Disappearing: With all four giants offering similar foldable phones in the 10,000 to 15,000 yuan range, the uniqueness is gone. Consumers will start comparing specifications, cameras, and chips, returning to the “cost-effectiveness” mindset associated with traditional phones. Once comparisons begin, the premium associated with foldable screens will fade.
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5. The Uncertainty of the Second Half: AI Is the Solution, but It Doesn’t Explain Current Price Hikes
Foldable screens have solved the problem of how to justify higher prices, but they haven’t addressed what phones can do beyond that.
The focus of the mobile phone industry competition is shifting. In the past, it was about hardware (screens, cameras), and then about ecosystems (App Stores); now, the key is AI.
Vivo Vice President Huang Tao said, “The second evolution of foldable screens is to turn them into AI workstations.” The “DouBao phone” collaboration between ByteDance and ZTE gives AI system-level permissions to automatically execute tasks across apps, representing the future direction: phones will no longer just be containers for information but executors of tasks.
However, AI currently faces challenges:
- Cost Impact: AI requires more memory, which increases costs. Manufacturers need to buy more expensive memory to differentiate their products, leading back to the same cycle.
- Consumer Acceptance: No consumer is willing to pay more for a phone just because of better AI. AI is intangible, while foldable screens are tangible and visible.
In summary, here’s the current situation of the mobile phone industry:
- Short term: Foldable screens are the only option for price hikes, allowing manufacturers to maintain profits amidst rising memory costs.
- Medium term (1-2 years): As more manufacturers enter the foldable screen market, product differentiation will diminish, leading to price wars.
- Long term: The real game-changer will be AI. However, AI is still a “cost black hole” rather than a source of additional profits.
Advice for Consumers:
If you’re considering buying a phone now, the cost-effectiveness of traditional flagships is declining due to rising costs. If you value experience and status, foldable screens are the only option that currently justifies higher prices, but be prepared for prices to come down as competition intensifies in the next one to two years.
As for AI, don’t expect it to save you money or make the current prices seem reasonable. It’s still in the development stage, and foldable screens are just the most obvious solution that manufacturers have found for the current price hike trend.