Prices for electronic devices reliant on advanced memory chips, from smartphones to gaming consoles, have risen as the AI data-center buildout tightens supply and drives component costs higher. The resulting memory-chip crunch is now weighing on consumer demand, with Goldman’s latest note showing that the pressure is increasingly visible in China’s handheld-device market.

Budget phones face steep price hikes as AI data centres fuel a global memory chip crunch, raising component, shipping and retail costs for consumers.

Global smartphone system-on-chip shipments fell fifteen percent in the first half of 2026. Soaring memory costs and weak consumer demand forced manufacturers to cut production…