Your next phone is getting pricier. Here’s how to buy smart

A global chip shortage driven by the AI infrastructure boom could make your next smartphone more expensive. Brands like OnePlus, Nothing, Xiaomi, Realme, Vivo, and Motorola have raised prices by ₹500 to ₹5,000 across their mid-range models this year so far. The same phones now cost more despite identical specifications, according to Beebom’s India smartphone price-hike tracker.

Why are prices rising

The AI boom has driven up demand for processors and memory chips, and as supply chains realign to meet this demand, memory prices have already risen 4x and could climb to 5x in the near term, according to Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, adding that costs aren’t coming down anytime soon, not even during the festive season.

Pathak expects Diwali offers to be 5-10% lower than last year’s. “The best time to buy a phone is actually now,” he said. “There will be offers around Diwali, but prices will have moved up by then too, so net-net, it’ll still work out higher.”

Brands are responding in one of two ways, Pathak said: raising prices outright, or quietly trimming specifications to keep devices affordable, particularly in the mid-range segment ( ₹15,000- ₹45,000).

The Realme 16 Pro, for instance, kept the same ₹31,999 price tag as its predecessor, the 15 Pro, but ships with a weaker chipset and a lower-resolution ultrawide camera.

But these price increases are limited to the Android ecosystem as Apple has kept pricing largely stable and the company in its latest earning call said it views an iPhone price hike as highly likely.

How buyers are responding

Consumers are becoming more value-conscious. Many are delaying upgrades, choosing previous-generation or refurbished phones, repairing existing devices, or using exchange offers and financing to soften the cost of buying new, Pathak said.

Counterpoint expects EMI and other financing options to account for 42% of India’s smartphone sales this year, up from 35% in 2025, as consumers are increasingly preferring these options over cash or one-time payments.

Retailers are also seeing more repair enquiries, He added, a sign that people are choosing to hold on to their current phones for longer. Going forward, brands will need to balance rising costs with enough value to keep price-sensitive buyers engaged.

Your options

This raises a natural question: are older models now a better buy than something new? Nakul Kumar, co-founder of Cashify, said that if last year’s flagship (or the best model of a brand) offers a better overall experience than a new mid-range phone at a similar price, many buyers are choosing the older flagship instead. Pathak noted, though, that stock of older models is now running low, pushing buyers toward refurbished or second-hand phones instead.

In the refurbished market, phones launched one or two years ago see the strongest demand, Kumar said, since they still offer flagship-grade processors, strong cameras, and years of remaining software support at a much lower price. The performance gap between flagship generations has also narrowed over the years, he added, so buyers no longer need the latest launch to get a premium experience.

He suggests treating a phone upgrade as a financial decision, not just a technology one. “Every smartphone has a value curve. It delivers utility over time, but it also depreciates every month. The smartest consumers understand both curves. They maximise the years they get from a device while also exiting before its resale value drops sharply.”

With older or refurbished phones, keep in mind that their software update clock starts from the phone’s original launch date, not your purchase date, so you get fewer years of support than with a brand-new device. If you do go the refurbished or second-hand route, check battery health, warranty coverage, and whether you’re buying from a certified refurbisher rather than an unverified reseller.

In a market where new doesn’t guarantee better, the smartest upgrade decision starts with reading the spec sheet closely, not just the price tag. Factor in the real cost of financing too, as EMI offers that look free often come with processing fees and GST. And if you go for a refurbished phone, know the software trade-off you’re making in exchange for the savings.