Nothing CEO Carl Pei bluntly announced that the brand's phones will increase in price in 2026, and the main culprit is the RAM shortage that is squeezing the entire industry. The news is no longer just a rumor, but a direct confirmation in a text where he explains how the AI ??wave is changing memory demand and driving up the cost of key components.

Nothing will raise prices in 2026: what Carl Pei confirmed

Carl Pei (CEO and founder of Nothing) published a text titled “Why Your Next Smartphone Will Cost More,” where he argues that memory demand is being “fundamentally” reshaped by the artificial intelligence boom. In that context, the most important point for fans of the brand is this: Pei assures that Nothing's smartphone portfolio will “inevitably” see a price increase during 2026.

And although he didn't give exact figures or a timeline with dates, the message makes it clear that this isn't a symbolic adjustment.

In the same text, Pei even mentions hypothetical scenarios of price increases of "30% or more" for unspecified brands, and cites estimates where memory modules that cost less than $20 a year ago could exceed $100 by the end of the year for "top-tier" models. In simpler terms: if the heart of your system (RAM and memory) becomes this expensive, either the final price will go up, or specifications will be reduced, and no brand wants to appear "cheap" by cutting corners where it hurts most.

RAM shortage is already hitting manufacturers

Here's the important thing to understand the scale of the problem: what Pei describes isn't an issue exclusive to Nothing, but a symptom of the market. In his analysis, he argues that the entire industry is caught between two unpopular options: raising prices or downgrading specifications, because memory availability and cost are becoming unpredictable. The race to dominate AI is increasingly consuming RAM, putting pressure on the supply chain and pushing prices upward.And when a critical component becomes more expensive or harder to secure, the impact is felt everywhere: inventory planning, final configurations, margins, and ultimately, the price you see on the shelf. In other words, this isn't just about "the new Nothing will cost more," but rather that supply issues are already affecting phone manufacturers and could change how 2026 models are assembled: fewer versions available, unusual storage/RAM jumps, or launches with limited availability. What changes might be coming in the short term? Amidst the bad news, there's an interesting clue: Pei mentions that an upcoming launch will see "some products" (he himself suggests it could be the A-series) make the jump to UFS 3.1 storage. Note: This sounds like a technical improvement, but it also connects to the argument of higher prices, because upgrading components during shortages usually costs twice as much (both in price and in ensuring supply).

Pei even tries to turn the scenario around and calls it a “great opportunity” to demonstrate that Nothing wins for more than just “spec sheets alone.” He also emphasizes his prediction that 2026 could be “the year the spec race ends,” although the article itself questions whether the market will truly let go of this obsession with more power.