Memory disorder: Russians began to save on the memory of gadgets
Demand for smartphones with a minimum amount of memory has increased in Russia, participants in the electronics market told Izvestia. The share of sales of models with 64-128 GB drives (they are practically not producing less now) increased by 5-7 percentage points. At the same time, the demand for devices with more capacious drives is decreasing. Customers are increasingly choosing basic versions in an effort to save money against the backdrop of rising global component prices and rising smartphone prices. During the year, their average price increased by 20-25% or more, and sales decreased by about 20%, experts say.
What kind of memory do Russians choose for their smartphones?
Buyers faced with rising prices for gadgets are increasingly choosing smartphones with the minimum amount of memory offered by manufacturers. Electronics sellers told Izvestia about this. This trend is especially noticeable in the mass segment, according to M.Video. For example, in August, compared with previous months, among smartphones costing 11-17 thousand rubles, the share of models with 128 GB permanent memory (ROM) increased from 46.6% to 53.3%. In the segment of 17-31 thousand rubles, the indicator increased from 10.2 to 15%. At the same time, the demand for smartphones with a large amount of memory is decreasing.
— According to the results of the first half of the year, the share of smartphones with 256 GB in sales was 12% compared to 16% in 2025. At the same time, the share of devices with 64 GB increased from 13 to 18%, and from 32 GB — from 12 to 17%. Thus, we are talking about a broader trend: against the background of rising global memory prices, part of the demand is shifting towards more affordable configurations, according to M.Video.
Marvel Distribution confirms this trend. Manufacturers strive to keep prices down by simplifying configurations, so models with minimal memory are in increasing demand, especially in the budget and mid-range segments. In particular, companies have started offering smartphones with 4 GB of RAM where 8-12 GB configurations were previously used.
—We believe that such performance optimization can become a sustainable trend, while advanced configurations will be more likely to be maintained only in the upper segment," the company added.
According to Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group, a year ago, in the segment of up to 15,000 rubles, the share of sales of smartphones with a minimum RAM of 4 GB was only 5%, and now it has reached 40%. At Wildberries, sales of smartphones with such "RAM" have doubled, said a representative of the united RWB company.
As the expert noted, vendors are not only reducing the amount of memory, but also increasingly using older technologies to reduce the cost of devices.
— Previously, UFS 3.1 memory was used in budget devices, but now many install the old, cheaper and less productive type of eMMC. At the same time, some smartphone models have increased in price by 1.5–2 times over the year. In new devices, some of the functionality is often abandoned: for example, instead of three cameras, two are installed, and the screens are simplified. The more memory, the higher the price of the smartphone: the difference in the cost of the 256 GB, 512 GB and 1 TB versions has become disproportionately large," the expert added.
Customers are purposefully saving money, noted Oleg Yablokov, NTI wireless expert. Against the background of rising prices of electronics and lower real incomes, they are more likely to choose basic versions with 128 GB, without overpaying for 256 or 512 GB. According to him, sales of smartphones with 128 GB remained unchanged in some segments over the year, while in others they increased by 5-7%. At the same time, according to market participants, total smartphone sales in Russia decreased by about 20% over the year.
What will happen to the prices and functionality of gadgets
Memory is one of the most expensive components of a smartphone, Oleg Yablokov pointed out. In a mass configuration with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of internal memory, it already takes up 30-40% of the cost of components, the expert claims. Its share in the retail price can be estimated at about 15-30%. In his opinion, by the end of the year, models with 128 GB will continue to strengthen their positions in the mass segment, while versions with 256 GB will retain leadership in the middle and upper price ranges.
Marvel Distribution agrees with this forecast: in the mass segment, 128 GB is likely to continue to be fixed as the base amount of memory, while models with 256 GB or more will be mainly represented in the middle and upper price segments. Depending on the category, retail prices increased by about 15-25% in the first half of 2026, the company added. It is difficult to identify a specific share of the increase in price, which is only for memory: the final cost of devices is influenced by prices for other components, logistics, exchange rate and other factors. At the same time, the impact of memory is now significant: over the year, RAM for smartphones has increased in price by 2-2.5 times, and storage devices have approximately doubled, according to the company.
One of the reasons for the rise in smartphone prices remains a significant increase in the cost of memory, M.Video agrees. According to estimates by TrendForce analysts, which the company refers to, historically it has formed about 10-15% of the cost of a smartphone, however, in some current configurations in 2026 its share may reach 60%. The specific indicator significantly depends on the price segment, the amount of RAM and internal memory, and the components used.
If a year ago a budget smartphone with 6 GB of RAM cost about 10 thousand rubles, and the version with 8 GB cost about 11-12 thousand, now a new device with the same 6 or 8 GB of RAM can cost about 20 thousand rubles, said Eldar Murtazin.
On average, smartphones have risen in price by 20% over the year, the MTS press service noted.
"Based on the market situation, we do not predict a significant increase in the average cost of smartphones, but this will directly depend on the exchange rate," they said.
In terms of pricing, this year has brought a further increase in retail value, with growth reaching 50% in some segments, said Andrey Tarasov, diHouse's Purchasing Director. According to him, smartphones may continue to rise in price in the future due to fluctuations in the dollar and yuan exchange rates, as well as another possible increase in the cost of components.
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