On March 6, 2026, digital blogger "Xiaomajia Bu Xiao" shared a screenshot of an internal announcement from realme. In this announcement, a staff member identified by the username "Chen Xingxing" indicated that realme would be suspending its research and development (R&D) efforts for new products in 2026. This decision, as explained, was influenced by the escalating prices of chips and the prevailing market conditions. Prior to this announcement, realme had made a significant public declaration about its imaging strategic partnership with Ricoh, a renowned Japanese optical company. The collaboration aimed to introduce a jointly developed imaging system on the GT9 series. However, with the discontinuation of the GT9 series R&D project, the realization of this partnership now seems uncertain.

According to a report by Counterpoint, it is anticipated that memory prices will surge by approximately 40% before the second quarter of 2026. This cost increase is gradually being transferred to the consumer market, compelling some mobile phone manufacturers to adopt strategic retrenchment or modify their product launch timelines accordingly.