Samsung and Google are raising prices on their budget phones
A Galaxy A17 5G costs $70 more than it did at launch and a Pixel 10a costs $100 more.
Both Samsung and Google are increasing the starting price of their budget phones, likely due to the RAM crisis that seemingly no tech company is able to escape. The Pixel 10a now costs $100 more, according to 9to5Google, while Android Authority writes that Samsung has bumped up prices across its entire Galaxy A lineup, the second price hike the company has made this week.
As part of the price increases, the Galaxy A17 5G jumped from $200 to $270 (the phone received an earlier price hike in August), the Galaxy A27 5G jumped from $350 to $380, the Galaxy A37 5G jumped from $450 to $490 and the Galaxy A57 5G jumped from $550 to $600. All told, Samsung's A series phones cost anywhere from $30 to $70 more than they did previously.
Google started selling the Pixel 10a for $499 in March, but with the $100 increase it'll now cost $599. That price is still on the cheaper end of things for a Pixel, but not quite the deal it was before. MobileSyrup writes that the changes are even more extreme in Canada, where the phone launched for $679 and now costs $849.
It would be one thing if these were temporary changes, but it's very likely the next version of these budget phones will launch for a similarly inflated price. That's because the best-case scenario is that the RAM shortage improves in a year thanks to an increase in Chinese RAM production. The more pessimistic outlook is that we'll be dealing with higher RAM prices through 2030. For anyone eyeing an affordable phone, buying used increasingly seems like the only option.