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Google has signaled that its upcoming Pixel 11 smartphone lineup will carry higher price tags, citing soaring memory chip costs and ongoing supply chain pressures. The increase is also expected to affect some existing Pixel devices, including the Pixel 10a.
Shakil Barkat, Vice President of Google’s Devices and Services division, confirmed the planned price adjustment in a recent interview. He said the global technology industry is facing an unprecedented rise in memory chip prices, making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to absorb production costs.
Referring to research by Morgan Stanley, Barkat said the manufacturing cost of 1GB of RAM has climbed from about $2.80 last year to nearly $12 this year—an increase of more than fourfold. He noted that Google had been covering much of the additional cost to shield consumers, but current economic conditions and supply chain realities have left the company with little choice but to raise prices.
Google is expected to officially unveil the Pixel 11 series on August 12. Although the company has not disclosed the exact price increase, international technology reports suggest premium Pixel 11 models could cost up to $100 more than their predecessors.
The company is also expected to make changes to the lineup’s storage and memory options. Reports indicate Google may drop the 128GB entry-level variants of the Pixel 11 and Pixel 11 Pro, making 256GB the new starting storage option. While this could increase the upfront purchase price, buyers would receive more storage capacity.
To help manage hardware costs, the Pixel 11 Pro’s RAM could reportedly be reduced from 16GB to 12GB. Google, however, plans to offset the higher prices with cashback promotions, trade-in offers, and discounts for customers upgrading from older devices.
The company is also optimizing Android to deliver smoother performance while using less memory, aiming to maintain a premium user experience despite the hardware changes.