Your next TV or phone is likely to cost you a lot more – here's why

TM Roh at Samsung's Unpacked launch in Paris, France on 10 July 2024.

Tech prices could be set to jump up in 2026, meaning a new TV or smartphone could become more of an investment.

Thanks to a global shortage of memory chips, Samsung's boss has warned that the extra costs to businesses like his could be passed on to the consumer. And it is likely to affect all types of home technology, not just computing,

The company's co-CEO, TM Roh, told Reuters that even as a semiconductor business, Samsung is "not immune" to the problems. Crucially, he said that elevated prices at a consumer level could be "inevitable".

Since this is a semiconductor problem, that means it is something that spans a pretty broad range of tech from phones to TVs.

It wasn't all bad news though, as Roh also said that Samsung is working with partners on longer term strategies that should allow them to minimise the impact.

(Image credit: Samsung)

So 2026 could simply be a slower year for sales of smartphones and TVs, as people wait out any price hikes.

According to market research firms, including IDC and Counterpoint, the smartphone market – on a global scale – will shrink as the memory chip shortage threatens to drive up phone prices worldwide.

A perfect AI storm

The global shortage of semiconductors is at least in part due to the surge in demand for AI developments.

Now that every company wants a slice of the AI pie – and it's due to start appearing in more and more gadgets – they need the chips to back that up.

So rather than this being one major event, like the pandemic that caused the last shortage back in 2020-2022, this is due to several smaller demands.

AI means data centres and GPUs are more in demand than ever, high-bandwidth memory is also growing fast and upping the pressure. Plus, there are the geopolitical pressures that are upsetting markets and leaving suppliers having to up their prices too.

All that means it's going to be tough to keep tech prices low in 2026. But I'm remaining hopeful that, thanks to smart planning and working together, companies like Samsung will be able to help absorb a lot of that cost – so our next upgrades won't have to wait too long.