TrendForce says the smartphone industry is heading into 2026 under heavier NAND Flash pricing pressure, but average phone storage is still expected to grow rather than shrink. The firm estimates that average smartphone storage capacity will increase 4.8% year over year.
At first glance, that sounds a little backwards. Higher memory prices usually push brands to cut specs in order to protect margins, and TrendForce says that is still happening across much of the market. But the research firm also points to several forces that are keeping capacity numbers moving up overall.
One big driver is the premium segment. According to the report, brands such as Apple and Huawei are continuing to expand on-device AI features, and those features need more local storage to handle system partitions, caching, and offline model work. TrendForce says this is one reason the entire iPhone 17 line is expected to move from a 128GB minimum to 256GB, while Huawei is pushing broader adoption of 512GB tiers in the Mate 80 family.
The supply side matters too. As memory makers move to newer production nodes, low-capacity parts are becoming less available. That means some brands are being nudged away from the smallest storage options even when they would otherwise prefer to keep cheaper variants in the lineup.
TrendForce adds that some smartphone vendors are also cutting back on low-margin configurations and concentrating more of their shipments around midrange storage tiers such as 128GB and 256GB. In other words, brands may be trimming certain specs to save costs, but they are not necessarily able to keep capacity at the old floor.
The report argues that Apple will likely stand out the most because a higher starting point across the iPhone 17 range would lift its average storage more sharply than what is expected from many Android brands. High-end vendors can absorb memory costs more easily and use extra storage to support AI features as well as justify higher selling prices.
For Android, the longer-term shift looks similar. TrendForce expects 128GB models to gradually lose their mainstream position by the end of 2026, with 256GB becoming the more common standard. So even with cost pressure hanging over the market, the broader direction still points to bigger storage across both flagship and upper-midrange phones.
