Nothing warns of higher phone prices in 2026, promises faster storage and better experience
Known for releasing phones with transparent rear designs, Nothing is now being ‘transparent’ about the fact that its upcoming smartphones will see a price increase across ranges. Nothing CEO Carl Pei said in a post published on X that the price increase is largely driven by rising memory and storage costs, as major AI companies and data centres have acquired the majority of available supply. As a result, smartphone manufacturers may be forced to purchase storage solutions at high prices, which will inevitably add to the phones’ pricing.
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Upcoming Nothing smartphones will feature UFS 3.1 storage speeds
Towards the end of the post, Carl Pei confirmed that some of the Nothing products, particularly smartphones, scheduled to release in the first quarter of 2026, will feature UFS 3.1 storage speeds. This assures us that, although Nothing smartphones will see a price increase compared to their predecessors, they will feature faster processing speeds that will directly enhance the user experience.
While the smartphones in question haven’t been explicitly revealed, the Nothing Phone (4a) series is likely being referred to here. For the uninitiated, the Nothing Phone (3a) series, comprising the Phone (3a) and Phone (3a) Pro, were released in March 2025 at Rs 24,999 and Rs 29,999, respectively, and both handsets featured UFS 2.2 speeds. Just a month later, the CMF Phone 2 Pro hit the market at Rs 18,999, which also gained UFS 2.2 storage type.
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Furthermore, since the Nothing Phone (3a) series places heavy emphasis on the cameras, aside from the design, we can expect improved camera hardware and better software optimisations. Also, it’ll be interesting to see whether the Glyph LEDs will be retained or not, considering the flagship Phone (3) has ditched those in favour of Glyph Matrix, an LED-based circular display on the rear.
Surge in smartphone prices is expected to be an industry-wide trend
Just last year, we saw several premium flagships, such as the Realme GT 8 Pro and iQOO 15, launch at much higher prices than their predecessors. While a price increase is a given due to major hardware upgrades across the board, a large share of the rise is also attributable to rising memory costs. Similarly, the recent price increases for the Realme 16 Pro series are due to higher storage chip costs, as indirectly indicated by Realme’s Head of Product Marketing, Francis Wong, in an X post.
In the post by Carl Pei, he notes that “2026 is the year the ‘specs race’ ends. As the industry resets, experience becomes the only real differentiator. That is exactly what Nothing was built for.” Since Nothing has always taken a different approach to design and specifications from the outset, the brand can innovate, even as rising memory costs pose an obstacle.
