Nothing Cancels CMF Phone 3 Pro as RAM Costs Squeeze Budget Models

The CMF Phone 3 Pro will not launch in 2026. Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis confirmed on X on June 18 that a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro is off the calendar, blaming memory component prices for forcing a choice between price hikes and skipped upgrades. In his post on X, relayed by The Verge, Evangelidis wrote that the brand cannot build a phone “that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF.”

The cancellation is the first visible casualty of a math problem now reaching across the industry. A week earlier, Nothing CEO Carl Pei posted on X that memory chips have become the single most expensive component in a smartphone, exceeding the processor and the display combined. The two announcements, from the same company, frame the same shift: the ultra-budget tier is the first to fall because it has the least room to absorb a doubling in memory costs.

What Evangelidis Actually Said About the CMF Line

Evangelidis’s full post, carried by both The Verge and Android Central, read: “We were working on a successor but with memory prices where they are right now, we can’t build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF. As a result, we’ve decided not to launch a new CMF phone this year.” The Nothing co-founder opened by acknowledging demand directly: “A lot of you have been asking when the next CMF phone is coming.” He closed with a pointer to other launches CMF still has in motion.

The price gap behind that decision is concrete. Hypebeast reported that “producing a handset with the exact same specifications as the older CMF Phone 2 Pro would cost roughly 50 percent more in today’s inflated market.” The CMF Phone 2 Pro launched in India at Rs 18,999 for the 8GB / 128GB base variant, with a 6.77-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display running at 120Hz, a MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Pro chipset, and 33W wired charging. A same-spec successor in 2026 would land closer to Rs 28,000, well above the band’s usual ceiling. The brand’s promise of meaningful upgrades without breaking the price lane no longer adds up against the memory bill, and a successor would either cost noticeably more or skip the upgrades that justify the upgrade cycle.

RAM Is Now the Most Expensive Component in a Smartphone

Memory is now the most expensive component in a smartphone.

That line is from Carl Pei’s X post on June 12. The Nothing co-founder and CEO, in a thread covered by TechSpot and Gizmochina, said memory chips now account for “more than 50%” of a smartphone’s total hardware bill, surpassing the processor and the display. It is the most concrete number a phone CEO has put on the crisis, and it sets the structural frame for every other announcement this month.

The example Pei uses is a phone Nothing has already shipped. Memory costs for the Nothing Phone (4a) more than doubled between the design decision and the March launch, then doubled again after launch. The product exists; the cost doubling is documented against a specific device on sale today. Carl Pei’s X post on RAM becoming the most expensive component makes the bill-of-materials data the centerpiece of Nothing’s public position.

The effect is industry-wide. Pei said phones launched since February 2026 have priced roughly $100 above their predecessors, and that in India devices previously priced above ₹30,000 now carry price tags about ₹7,000 higher. Memory is no longer a line item manufacturers can stockpile around; chip makers now allocate supply and OEMs take what they get. Apple confirmed the pressure this week, with Tim Cook saying the company will raise prices because “the situation has become unsustainable,” per The Verge’s CMF coverage.

IDC Forecasts a 13.9% Decline, the Sharpest on Record

IDC’s June update cut the 2026 forecast further. Smartphone shipments will fall 13.9% year-on-year to 1.09 billion units, the steepest annual contraction in smartphone history. The revision moves the February call, a 12.9% drop to 1.12 billion units, sharply worse on both volume and price. IDC’s revised 13.9% smartphone decline forecast for 2026 is the most-cited benchmark for the size of the reset.

The price side has moved with it. Average selling price climbs to a record $550, up $100 from a year ago and $27 above IDC’s earlier February figure of $523. Manufacturers are not absorbing the memory cost; they are pushing it into shelf prices and shrinking the affordable end of the lineup.

IDC senior research director Nabila Popal framed the moment as a structural reset, not a temporary squeeze. “2026 will be a defining year for the industry as new reality of structurally higher costs take hold. For consumers, it means the era of ultra cheap smartphones is over. For vendors, it means only those that can adapt their strategies to this new cost environment and sustain demand at elevated price points will survive.” Foldables are the one segment growing alongside premium pricing: 20% YoY in 2026, the only category where vendors can credibly defend unit growth at the top of the stack.

Apple is the clearest winner inside the reset. IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo said iOS will hit its highest annual share ever at 22%, with Apple securing memory supply early and riding iPhone 17 demand into the gap. Samsung is forecast to gain share inside Android on a secured memory allocation and an aggressive mid-range position. Smaller Android vendors concentrated in the entry-level price bands face contraction or exit.

Why Budget Models Are the First to Disappear

• Middle East and Africa: -23%
• Central and Eastern Europe: -19%
• Asia Pacific ex-Japan/China (APeJC): -14%
• China: -13%
• North America: -6.3%

The sub-$100 smartphone segment, roughly 171 million devices shipped in 2025, becomes “permanently uneconomical” once memory prices settle at the new, higher level, according to Popal. The category does not rebound even after the shortage stabilises around mid-2027, because the floor itself has lifted.

CMF lives in the band just above that floor, sub-Rs 20,000 in India, where the Phone 2 Pro debuted. Build a Phone 2 Pro equivalent at today’s RAM prices and the cost is roughly 50% higher, per Hypebeast. The phone the brand can afford to ship in 2026 is the same phone buyers can already buy on store shelves today. Upgrades that justify the cycle either break the price or break the value promise the brand sells on.

Apple is the clearest signal that the floor has lifted. Tim Cook confirmed Apple will raise prices this week, citing an unsustainable component environment. Carl Pei’s earlier statement that “memory is now the most expensive component in a smartphone” sets the structural read; Cook’s price move is the customer-facing confirmation. The two announcements, one week apart, are two CEOs reading the same chart.

Inside the operating-system split, Android shipments will drop 21% in 2026 while iOS drops only 5.2%, per IDC. Apple’s secured memory supply and premium positioning give it a margin hedge that no sub-$200 brand can replicate. The same story holds for Samsung: secured supply, premium positioning, share gain at the cost of smaller rivals.

The decline is geographically concentrated where sub-$200 phones are most concentrated. Middle East and Africa is forecast to drop 23%, Central and Eastern Europe 19%, Asia Pacific ex-Japan/China 14%, China 13%, and North America only 6.3%. The largest single forecast cut, MEA at -23%, is the clearest signal that “ultra-budget” and “emerging market” are now the same problem.

What Nothing and CMF Are Doing Instead

Evangelidis’s same post added that CMF still has “several new products launching as well as some entirely new categories” this year. The smartphone gap is not a brand pause; it is a phone-shaped hole inside a still-active product plan. how Nothing is moving CMF hardware to the main brand tracks one piece of that reshuffle in real time.

Nothing’s mainline continues. Evangelidis hinted that “the smartphone launch season at Nothing isn’t over yet.” Hypebeast’s reporting places the upcoming Nothing Phone 3 as the brand’s first true flagship, while Nothing has appointed Charli xcx as global brand ambassador to anchor premium campaigns and absorb higher component costs into higher-margin hardware.

The pivot is the whole industry’s. Per IDC, vendors are concentrating on higher price tiers, reducing shipments, and leaning into premium foldables as the only segment where unit growth and price discipline coexist. CMF’s phone gap is a microcosm: hold the line on value, or move up the price ladder where the memory cost can be absorbed without breaking the brand promise.

What Budget Shoppers Should Expect

Carl Pei’s direct advice to consumers waiting for a deal, posted on X and reported by TechSpot: “If you’ve been waiting to upgrade a device, the best time was yesterday. The next best time is now. This year’s sales season won’t have the discounts people are used to.” That is a phone CEO telling buyers not to expect the old promotional cadence. The deep-discount window on last year’s models is closing because the new models cost more to build, and component makers are no longer willing to pre-allocate inventory at promotional pricing.

IDC expects only a 2% recovery in 2027 and a 5.5% rebound in 2028 once memory supply normalises. The new floor for the lowest tier is permanently higher than 2025. J.P. Morgan’s analysis of how much Apple can absorb in memory costs is one read on how much room even the strongest balance sheet has to cushion the move. CMF Phone 2 Pro buyers today get the value the brand was built on; buyers waiting for the successor will pay more, or wait longer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the CMF Phone 3 Pro cancelled?

Yes. Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis confirmed on X on June 18 that no successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro will launch in 2026, marking the first time in the brand’s short history that a year passes without a CMF phone release.

Why did Nothing cancel the CMF Phone 3 Pro?

The reason given is that current RAM prices would force a successor to ship at a price that breaks CMF’s value promise. Hypebeast reports a same-spec build at today’s component costs would run ~50% above the Phone 2 Pro’s Rs 18,999 launch price.

Will CMF launch any phone in 2026?

No new CMF phone is planned for this year. Evangelidis said the brand still has “several new products” and “entirely new categories” in the pipeline, and that “the smartphone launch season at Nothing isn’t over yet,” signalling continued activity outside the CMF phone slot.

How much have RAM prices risen in 2026?

Nothing CEO Carl Pei said memory costs more than doubled between the Phone (4a) design phase and its March launch, then doubled again post-launch, and now exceed 50% of a smartphone’s total hardware bill, surpassing the processor and display combined.

What does IDC expect for the global smartphone market in 2026?

IDC’s June update forecasts a 13.9% YoY decline to 1.09 billion units and a record ASP of $550, with the sub-$100 segment becoming “permanently uneconomical” even after memory prices normalise around mid-2027.