Nothing Cancels CMF Phone: Buy a Budget Phone Now?

If you want a cheap Android phone, buying a current model now is the safer move, because the budget tier is the part of the market the 2026 memory spike hits hardest.

Nothing made that risk concrete this week by canceling its next CMF phone outright, and the reason was price, not the product.

Why did Nothing cancel its CMF phone?

Nothing canceled the 2026 CMF phone because surging RAM prices made an affordable successor impossible to build.

Co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced on X that there will be no new CMF phone this year, saying the company could not build "a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF." All three reports we reviewed quote that same line, so this is a deliberate, on-the-record decision rather than a leak or a delay.

The catch is what this was supposed to replace. The CMF Phone 2 Pro launched in April 2025 at $279, according to Digital Trends, which adds that the same phone with identical specs would now cost between $320 and $370, and an upgraded successor would cost more still.

How bad is the 2026 memory price spike?

The spike is severe enough that memory is now the single most expensive part of a phone.

Nothing CEO Carl Pei said "memory is now the most expensive component in a smartphone," and per Digital Trends his figure is that RAM accounts for more than 50% of a phone's total hardware bill, above both the processor and the display. Pei also said that for the Phone 4a, memory costs doubled between the build decision and launch, then "doubled again since."

The driver, where the sources agree, is supply pressure plus the appetite AI data centers have for DRAM and NAND. The trade-off this creates is real: when one component takes half the bill, every dollar of memory cost squeezes the parts buyers actually notice.

How the three reports line up

The outlets agree on the cause and diverge mainly on the supporting detail, which is the most useful way to read the story.

Where the sources conflict is small but worth flagging: Android Central frames the canceled device specifically as the CMF Phone 3 Pro tied to prior leaks, while The Verge and Digital Trends describe it more generally as "this year's CMF phone." The decision is the same; the naming precision differs.

Will this raise the price of your next phone?

For budget and entry-level phones, yes, and the effect is harder to avoid than at the high end.

Digital Trends lays out the likely moves for budget makers: ship fewer RAM upgrades at the same price, default to 6GB instead of 8GB, hold storage at 128GB longer, or simply raise prices. Each of those is a quiet downgrade, which is harder to spot than a sticker increase.

The effect is not confined to small brands. The Verge reports Apple is raising prices and quotes Cook calling the situation "unsustainable," and Digital Trends cites estimates that the iPhone 18 Pro could land between $1,299 and $1,399, a $200 to $300 jump over the iPhone 17 Pro. The condition to watch is duration: this only bites your purchase if memory prices stay elevated, which Pei expects through next year.

Should you buy a budget phone now?

If you need a phone in the next few months, buying a strong current model now is the lower-risk choice; if you can wait a year, you are betting on prices easing, which no source here predicts.

• Buy now if your phone is failing or you need it soon, since today's budget models were spec'd before the worst of the spike.
• Prioritize a model with the RAM and storage you want already, because the next generation may quietly cut those to hold a price.
• Watch for shrinkflation, a same-price phone with 6GB instead of 8GB or capped storage, rather than only the sticker price.
• If you can wait, accept the gamble: no source forecasts relief, and Pei expects higher prices next year.

If you are timing a purchase around discounts, our guide to early Prime Day tech deals worth buying can help you lock in current-generation hardware before any further increase. The honest limitation is that none of these reports name a turning point, so any "wait it out" plan rests on a recovery no one is forecasting.

References:

• The Verge, Nothing cancels this year’s CMF phone due to RAM prices. Accessed on Jun 20, 2026
• Digital Trends, Nothing just scrapped its next affordable phone, and the problem is bigger than you think. Accessed on Jun 20, 2026
• Android Central, RAM ruins a Pro: Nothing says no CMF Phone 3 Pro to avoid ridiculous pricing. Accessed on Jun 20, 2026