Indian mobile market hit as global semicon industry faces 'severe memflation'
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May 26, 2026 | Page No.: 13 | Position: Top Center | Source: Mini Tejaswi | Sq Cm: 412 | AVE: 74249 | PR Value: 371245
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Indian mobile market hit as global semicon industry faces severe menillatiod India sees shortage of sub 210 000415 000 phones as leading chips manufacturers divert capacities to meet humongous demand for high-bandwidth memory required to support Al infra Mini Tejaswi Chandak president IESA BENGALURU Confirming the trend Rajeev Rajput Senior Prin- The semiconductor cipal Analyst at Gartner in industry globally is a recent report said experiencing a sev- Memflation will destroy ere structural memflation or at least delay non-AI de- inflation caused by memo- mand into 2028 to varying ry chips shortage with degrees depending on the skyrocketing prices lead- application Technology ing to huge disruptions in suppliers should prepare price sensitive consumer for higher prices during electronics and mobile the first half of 2026 fol- phone markets in India lowed by persistent but said industry experts moderating price increases The key reason is that Off reach The entry-level smartphone segment is under severe throughout the rest of the global wafer and advanced pressure due to rising memory chip costs B JOTHI RAMALINGAM year CIOs and IT leaders packaging capacities are should be cautious about increasingly being allocat- ns 000 phones across the Apple and Samsung for signing supply agreements ed toward high bandwidth country as leading semi- standard memory alloca- with unfavourable pricing memory HBM and AI in- conductor memory chips tion leaving budget terms that extend beyond frastructure due to signifi- manufacturers are divert- brands in India and in oth- 2027 he warned cantly higher demand and ing all their energies and er geographies to starve of Echoing a similar senti- margins A typical HBM production capacities chip component supply ment Mr Chandak said takes 2-3x wafer capacity away from standard con- This has resulted in a short while capacity expansion compared with a conven- sumer chips to meet the supply of economy smart- announcements were un- tional DRAM humongous demand for phones in India Also I was derway globally meaning- This is making availabili- high-bandwidth memory told prices of several ful and substantial relief ty of conventional DRAM required to support AI in- brands of cellphones have may take up to another and NAND used in main- frastructure gone up by at least 15- two years because semi- stream electronics tighter 20 Mr Naidu said conductor capacity crea- according to India Elec- India very vulnerable As per IESA higher tion was highly capital-in- tronics Semiconductor B V Naidu a foundational DRAM and NAND prices tensive and Association IESA architect in India s semi- combined with the shift to time-consuming Dynamic Random-Ac- conductor and Electronics AI-enabled applications We expect the market cess Memory or DRAM is System Design and Manu- and larger storage needs to remain tight through a type of computer memo- facturing ESDM ecosys- are making the sub 2026-2027 with gradual ry used in PCs laptops tem and a former presi- 210 000 to ns 000 catego- normalisation thereafter and smartphones to tem- dent of IESA India is ry increasingly difficult to he added porarily store data that the extremely vulnerable to sustain profitably On bill of materials processor needs to actively memory chip shortage due The market is witness- BOM pressure and smart- use While NAND is a type to its heavy reliance on ing a structural recalibra- phone profitability Mr of memory storage used in electronic component im- tion toward higher-value Chandak observed memo- smartphones that retains ports and a consumer base devices That means ry pricing has become one data even without power driven by price elasticity phone makers are priori- of the biggest cost pres- Industry experts also It seems global chip tising premium phone pro- sures in smartphone and confirmed that there is a makers are prioritising duction over entry level entry level laptop shortage of sub 210 000 to premium brands such as phones explained Ashok manufacturing