RAM prices are quietly wrecking budget phones, here's the first victim

Nothing has officially canceled its next CMF phone, the budget follow-up to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, with co-founder Akis Evangelidis blaming runaway memory prices. There will be no new CMF phone this year, which leaves shoppers eyeing cheap budget phones against the Pixel 10a and Samsung's Galaxy A series with one fewer option.

Nothing axed its next budget phone

Akis Evangelidis, co-founder of Nothing, confirmed the news on X. The company had been building a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, but memory prices have climbed so high that it cannot ship a phone that makes sense for the brand.



It should be noted that the CMF Phone 2 Pro was no minor release. It won Budget Phone of the Year from MKBHD, so this is Nothing walking away from a line that was working.



That is a blunt admission from a company that built its name on cheap phones punching above their price.

Why this should worry every budget phone buyer

For anyone shopping in the $200 to $300 range, this is the first time the memory crunch has killed a product outright instead of just raising prices. The pattern is the worrying part.

The CMF Phone 2 Pro launched in the US at $279 and in India at Rs 18,999, about $200 (via direct conversion). Evangelidis says building it today would push it to roughly Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000, about $320 to $370 (via direct conversion).

Nothing's leadership has warned that RAM now costs more than a phone's processor and display combined. When memory alone breaks the budget, the cheap end of the market breaks first.



Not every fan is upset. One reaction on X summed up a common view, that skipping a phone beats a price spike that bleeds into future models. If you are holding a Pixel A-series or a Galaxy A-series phone, the same RAM pressure is coming for your next upgrade, so this is not a Nothing-only problem.

What is coming instead (and what to grab now)

The work is not entirely gone. Leaker Yogesh Brar, who has a solid track record on Nothing leaks, says on X that the canceled CMF project has moved under the main Nothing brand.

Nothing's account is already teasing two products codenamed Jumpluff and Blastoise, and Blastoise could become the next Nothing Phone. The catch is that a Nothing-branded phone almost never lands at CMF prices.

If you wanted a cheap, characterful Nothing phone this year, the realistic move is the existing CMF Phone 2 Pro while stock lasts, or a budget rival before prices creep up.

Where I land on the cancellation

This one disappoints, but it is not a surprise. Memory prices have been climbing across the entire electronics industry for months, and budget phones run on the thinnest margins, so they were always going to break first.

I would rather Nothing be upfront than ship a watered-down phone at a price that insults the CMF name. If the memory market cools off, I expect a CMF comeback, but until then the affordable phone space just got quieter and more expensive.

• Our roundup of the best mid-range phones if your budget can stretch a little further.
• The best Android phones worth your money right now.
• Follow me @jojothetechie on X and Threads for more hot takes and behind-the-scenes coverage.

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