[News] March Price Wave Looms Amid Memory Crunch: Lenovo, Acer, Samsung, Chinese Phone Makers in Action

With memory prices still climbing and no clear peak in sight, the impact is again spreading across consumer electronics as 2026 begins. Major PC makers, including Lenovo and Acer, have been preparing pricing adjustments since late February, while smartphones — led by Samsung’s newly launched Galaxy S26 and Chinese brands such as OPPO and Honor — may face one of the most significant price upticks in recent years. Here’s a quick roundup of the latest developments.

Lenovo, Acer Initiate Price Hikes, VAIO Could Follow

According to Acer CEO Jason Chen, cited by the Economic Daily News, the storage and memory account for roughly 25% of a PC’s bill of materials (BOM). With prices of related components recently surging by 50% to 100%, end-product pricing is inevitably set to rise, he added.

HP shares a similarly cautious outlook, warning that the memory crunch could extend into 2027 and weigh on PC sales. Engadget, citing company CFO Karen Parkhill, notes that memory and storage previously made up about 15–18% of HP’s PC BOM, but are now expected to reach around 35% in 2026.

Against this backdrop, a fresh wave of price hikes is already taking shape. Acer’s Predator Gaming Japan account on X announced that prices for selected PC products would increase starting Feb. 20, 2026, citing soaring component costs — particularly DRAM and SSDs — as the key drivers. However, Wccftech also notes that it remains unclear whether the move will extend beyond Japan.

Following Acer Japan, Lenovo, according to CRN, warned partners that select commercial devices will see price hikes in early March amid a memory crunch. Distributors have until Feb. 28 to submit orders; any orders received by then but not shipped by March 31 may be repriced, CRN notes.

VAIO, the PC maker under Japanese electronics retailer Nojima, also said it is considering price hikes as surging memory costs ripple through the industry. According to JIJI.com, VAIO President Ken Itooka said the company is weighing a price revision as early as April.

Uncertainty Looms Over Apple’s Budget MacBook

On the other hand, Apple is set to launch a new 12.9-inch MacBook with 8GB of memory in early March, but soaring memory costs are casting doubt on just how low the price can go. NotebookCheck reports that while early whispers hinted at $599–$699, current conditions may push the tag to $699–$749—making it a tough sell against the MacBook Air with M4 SoC, which offers double the memory, a larger display, and a faster chip for $899 on Amazon.

Smartphone Price Hikes on the Way

While the scale of PC price hikes remains unclear, smartphone makers are moving more decisively. At its Galaxy Unpacked 2026 event on February 26, Samsung has raised prices for select models in the U.S. and South Korea as soaring memory chip costs squeeze margins.

According to Reuters, Samsung priced the base Galaxy S26 at $899 in the U.S., a 4.7% increase from its predecessor, while the S26 Plus rose 10% to $1,099. Some S26 units now feature Samsung’s in-house Exynos chips instead of Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, a move analysts say could boost its chip design business and mobile margins, the report adds.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, the base Galaxy S26 model saw an 8.6% price increase, Reuters notes.

Samsung is not alone, as Chinese venders could soon be following suit. According to Science and Technology Innovation Express News, procurement costs for smartphone memory chips have surged more than 80% year over year, with little sign of easing. Facing mounting cost pressure, channel partners and ODM sources cited by the report indicate that major brands in China — including OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, Honor and more — are planning coordinated product price adjustments in early March.

If implemented, this would mark the smartphone industry’s largest and most significant collective price hike in nearly five years, the report points out.

EE Times China further notes that March marks a key turning point for this wave of price hikes. Models launched before the month will see relatively modest increases, while new devices released afterward are expected to jump sharply. Data cited by the report shows that the minimum increase for new models won’t be less than ¥1,000, with mid- to high-end flagships potentially rising ¥2,000–¥3,000.

According to TrendForce, both PC and mobile DRAM are expected to see sharp price hikes in the first quarter, with DDR4/DDR5 for PCs rising 105–110% and LPDDR4X/LPDDR5X for mobile up 88–93%. With memory prices surging, how brands strike the right balance between pricing and sales will be a true test of their strategic smarts, and the specifics are likely to become clearer over the next month or two.

Read more

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• [News] Samsung Readies New Price Hikes: Consumer DRAM, SSD Reportedly Doubled, NAND Set for 50%+ Rise

(Photo credit: Samsung)