Months after warnings of an AI-driven shortage, India’s smartphone market is feeling the squeeze. Rising prices and falling shipments point to a new reality where budget-friendly devices can no longer hide their costs behind high-tech dreams.

The pain is most acute at the bottom end, with sub-₹20,000 (under $210) smartphones seeing a 10% decline in June. Cheaper phones, once seen as tech’s great democratizer, now carry a premium tag that many consumers find hard to swallow.

Even Apple and Samsung are not immune. While Samsung saw growth, Apple faced a dip due to supply constraints rather than price hikes alone. Budget brands like OnePlus are reassessing their global strategy, focusing on markets where profits still make sense amid tightening margins.

This isn’t just about tech; it’s about how we buy and use our gadgets in the age of artificial intelligence. As memory becomes more costly, consumers may delay upgrades, stretching out replacement cycles to cope with higher prices.

For India, a market so crucial it often foreshadows global trends, this is a double whammy: not only are phones getting pricier, but the weaker rupee makes imports even costlier. In this tech-driven world, it seems even the humble smartphone has learned to count its bytes carefully.