A recent Reuters survey indicates that independent brands like Fairphone and Jolla are redesigning their device motherboards and implementing rigorous chip verification processes to navigate a supply crisis projected to extend through 2027.

The CEO of memory giant SK Hynix has issued a stark warning, identifying 2027 as potentially the most severe supply year in industry history, with the demand-supply gap expected to persist beyond 2030. In response, Counterpoint Research forecasts a 13.9% year-on-year decline in global smartphone shipments this year, dropping to 1.08 billion units—the steepest annual drop ever recorded.

For smaller manufacturers, the pivotal challenge is no longer the price tag but simply securing allocation. Fairphone's CEO, Raymond van Eck, admitted that without a supplier's quota, the game is over regardless of financial terms. At present, memory components account for roughly 60% of the bill of materials in smartphones priced around $400 (approximately 2,843 yuan).

Mitigating risk through engineering, Finnish brand Jolla has adopted an extreme approach by designing devices with two distinct motherboard configurations. The primary design integrates storage and memory in a single package, while the alternative layout accommodates discrete chips, enabling swift production transitions when one component form becomes scarce.

Although this dual-motherboard strategy elevates research and development expenses, it may prove to be a critical safeguard in an environment of extreme hardware scarcity. Similarly, laptop maker Framework has taken a more aggressive stance. Unable to bear the financial strain of extensive inventory stockpiling, it has resorted to a speculative procurement model—placing early orders without confirmed final prices, delivery timelines, or capacity specifications.

This near-blind ordering strategy underscores the diminished bargaining power of niche players when dealing with dominant supply chain entities. Compounding these difficulties, the influx of counterfeit and refurbished chips demands heightened vigilance. Jolla's CEO revealed that every incoming chip batch now undergoes exhaustive stress testing to ascertain that components are genuinely new rather than recovered from discarded electronics.

As the industry braces for capacity relief in 2028, smaller players must increasingly depend on engineering agility and a keen understanding of the secondary chip market to ensure their survival.