Affected by the continued price increase of NAND flash memory, smartphone manufacturers are considering restarting the microSD card slot.Since September, in addition to HBM, all series of storage products such as DRAM, NAND flash memory, SSD and mechanical hard disks have continued to face price increases and shortages.
In November, flash memory leader SanDisk announced a substantial increase in the contract price of NAND flash memory, with an increase of up to 50%. This is SanDisk's third price increase this year. After SanDisk announced a 10% price increase for its entire series in April and implemented a general 10% increase in early September, this single-month increase of 50% exceeded market expectations. Relevant agencies predict that the December contract price will still maintain a price increase momentum.
Affected by this, mobile phone manufacturers are considering resurrecting the microSD card slot. Consumers can expand the microSD card to meet their own needs. Manufacturers can also reduce their reliance on large-capacity NAND flash memory, thereby reducing the cost of mobile phones.
At present, there are no performance shortcomings in microSD cards. For example, Samsung 512GB P9 Express has a read and write speed of up to 800MB/s and sells for $74.99 on Amazon. In comparison, the price difference between 512GB and 256GB Apple phones is as high as $200.
It is worth noting that the currently finalized mobile phones will not redesign the microSD card slot, so new phones released in the second half of 2026 are expected to support microSD card expansion.