Nothing may raise prices by up to 30% as its CEO says the “specs race” is over

We all knew that 2026 would be a tough year for the consumer electronics market, but it was unclear exactly how bad it would be. Carl Pei, CEO and founder of Nothing, may have an answer, and you’re probably not going to like it.

Nothing will raise phone prices as early as this quarter

Nothing will “inevitably” increase prices across its smartphone portfolio, according to a lengthy X post by the company’s CEO Carl Pei. He said that the increase will be particularly noticeable with some devices that are set to launch in Q1 2026 and will feature UFS 3.1 memory.

Pei is likely referring to at least one of the upcoming Nothing Phone (4a) devices, which are expected to launch in early March. Funnily, that information contradicts last year’s claims about the UFS 2.2 memory used on the Nothing Phone (3a).

At the time, the company said that choosing the lower-tier storage wasn’t “about cutting costs, but about putting resources where they matter most.” Surprisingly, in 2026, choosing a pricier storage will matter more than it did a year ago.

Higher prices or lower specs, nothing in between

Pei’s rather bleak post went into detail about how the higher memory prices will change the smartphone industry. RAM modules that used to cost $20 could sell for well over $100 by the end of 2026. That could force some manufacturers to increase prices by more than 30% in some cases, or downgrade the specs of their devices.



Those challenges will make the business model of many value smartphone brands unsustainable. Pei forecasts that the entry and mid-tier market segments will shrink by at least 20% in 2026. That would put an end to what Pei calls the “specs race,” which would force the industry to focus on the user experience.

Of course, Pei uses the case to highlight how that is an opportunity for Nothing, as such a situation is what it “was built for.”

Unconvincing claims

Many smartphone users never cared about the specs of their phones, and that’s unlikely to change. However, the people who cared about specs will continue to focus on that, and the higher prices won’t suddenly make them lose interest. I am sure that smartphone sales will look different in 2026, especially if the price hikes are as dramatic as Pei suggests, but specs will be even more relevant than before.