Phone makers of all sizes are feeling the RAM crunch
TL;DR
Phone makers at MWC report a severe RAM shortage driving up costs, likely leading to higher phone prices. Xiaomi aims to offset this by increasing mid-range and entry-level volumes to lower costs.
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We've been talking to phone companies both big and small this week at MWC, and they've basically all agreed on one point: the RAM crisis is hitting hard, and phone prices will almost certainly increase where they haven't already.
For a major global brand like Xiaomi, volume is one lever the company can pull. To balance out the increased costs, Angus Ng, Xiaomi's director of communications and public relations, tells us, "We can potentially go for bigger volumes, especially in the mid-range segment and entry-level segment, so then we can try to lower costs in that area." Pulling other levers, like scaling back flagship specs, isn't considere …