Pixel 11 Pricing to Shift Like Stocks With RAM Market Prices

Google has confirmed that the Pixel 11 line will cost more than earlier models and, as with everything else, links the increase to a steep rise in RAM costs. This will come as a disappointment to those who have already found Pixel products overpriced given their specs.

When 9to5Google spoke with Shakil Barkat, Google’s VP of Devices and Services, earlier this week, Barkat said the entire Pixel line will undergo price “adjustments…rolled out dynamically to match supply realities.” Google quickly caught flak for essentially mimicking surge pricing, in which prices rise in response to market pressure rather than because the phone itself changed.

The company claims to be working to limit the downstream effects of RAM pricing by making Android use less RAM, so future phones can keep performance steady without relying on as much memory. Some reports also indicate that Google may adjust storage and memory; this could lower device prices, or at least keep them steady. But nothing concrete has been confirmed yet, with the company waiting to disclose full details at its August 12 launch event.

It’s true that memory and storage costs have risen across the industry, and other consumer technology brands have already raised prices in some markets (sometimes multiple times). Based on earlier leaked images from US-based Pixel 11 Amazon listings, it once appeared the Pixel 11 wouldn’t see a price increase from the previous generation. Now, that may no longer be true.