A single new generation of artificial intelligence hardware from Nvidia could consume as much memory this year as 100 to 150 million smartphones, intensifying a global memory shortage that may force Apple and Samsung to raise handset prices by as much as $150 per device, according to a new analyst note cited by Wccftech.
The pressure comes from architectural changes in Nvidia’s upcoming Vera Rubin AI GPUs, which are designed to handle increasingly complex inference workloads. These systems generate massive temporary memory logs known as key value caches, used to preserve context during AI query processing. In previous designs, those caches lived primarily in high bandwidth memory. With Vera Rubin, Nvidia is shifting much of that burden to dedicated storage through a new approach called Inference Memory Context Storage.
According to KeyBanc analysts, the scale is unprecedented. Each Vera Rubin CPU is expected to use roughly 1.5 terabytes of memory, up from about 512 gigabytes in Nvidia’s Grace platform. Across planned deployments, that translates to roughly 20 billion gigabits of memory demand in a single year, equivalent to just under 10 percent of the entire global smartphone market.
That surge is colliding with an already constrained supply chain. Memory production has struggled to keep pace with AI driven demand, and the effects are now spilling into consumer electronics. For smartphone makers, memory accounts for roughly 20 percent of a device’s bill of materials, making price sensitivity particularly acute.
Apple is especially exposed. Analysts expect the company to maintain sufficient NAND supplies only through the first quarter of 2026, after which pricing is likely to rise sharply as new long term agreements are signed. DRAM presents an even bigger challenge, with forecasts suggesting Apple may face sequential price increases of more than 50 percent to secure continued supply. Compounding the issue, the company is also reportedly struggling to source enough high end glass fiber substrate materials as AI related demand strains Japanese suppliers.
Samsung is not insulated despite manufacturing its own memory. Reports indicate Samsung’s memory division has raised internal transfer prices to its mobile unit by 60 to 70 percent, prompting planned price increases of $30 to $60 for the upcoming Galaxy S26 in some markets.
Analysts warn that if memory costs continue climbing, flagship smartphones launching in 2026 could see total price hikes of $100 to $150. The situation highlights how the AI boom, driven by companies like NVIDIA, is reshaping global supply chains far beyond data centers.
As AI infrastructure scales at an unprecedented rate, consumers may increasingly feel the impact in places far removed from server racks, including the price tag on their next phone.
