Techno Blogging
The global smartphone market declined 6.7% year over year to 277.5 million units in the second quarter of 2026 as soaring memory prices continued to disrupt the industry, according to preliminary data from IDC, with Apple and Samsung emerging as the primary beneficiaries of the supply crunch.
The research firm said the memory shortage has sharply increased component costs, particularly for entry-level devices, forcing manufacturers to rethink product strategies and pricing while widening the competitive gap between premium and budget smartphone vendors.
"Memory costs are up nearly 300% from a year ago, and now account for over 65% of the bill of materials at the low end, making survival increasingly difficult for OEMs with low-end portfolios," Nabila Popal, senior research director for Worldwide Consumer Devices at IDC, said in a statement.
The second quarter marked the second consecutive period of year-over-year shipment declines as manufacturers continued to grapple with constrained memory supply.
According to IDC, Samsung retained the top position with 62.7 million shipments, up 8.1% from a year earlier, while Apple recorded the fastest growth among the top five vendors, shipping 55.8 million iPhones, a 15.3% increase year over year. The firm attributed Apple's performance to strong demand for the iPhone 17 and purchases ahead of expected price increases.
In contrast, Chinese smartphone makers continued to lose ground. Xiaomi shipments fell 26.3%, while OPPO and vivo declined 17.5% and 19.4%, respectively.
"This memory crisis has split the smartphone market in two," Francisco Jeronimo, IDC vice president for Worldwide Client Devices, said.
"At the top, Apple and Samsung are pulling away because they secured supply early and sell where memory is a smaller share of the bill of materials. At the bottom, the vendors exposed to cheap, high-volume devices are absorbing the pain—and so are their customers."
IDC said Samsung increased its global market share to 22.6% from 19.5% a year earlier, while Apple's share rose to 20.1% from 16.3%, strengthening the lead of the two largest smartphone makers.
The pressure has been particularly acute for vendors competing in the sub-$200 smartphone segment. Kiranjeet Kaur, associate research director for Worldwide Consumer Devices at IDC, said many Chinese manufacturers are repackaging older devices or introducing 4G variants to maintain lower price points while coping with rising component costs.
Xiaomi posted the steepest decline among the leading vendors as it deliberately reduced shipments of lower-margin entry-level devices in favor of premium models, IDC said.
Huawei was the notable exception among Chinese manufacturers, recording 20.9% shipment growth by maintaining stable pricing in China while competitors raised prices, supported by strong domestic demand and a broader product portfolio.
The findings underscore how the AI-driven memory shortage is reshaping the smartphone market. As demand for high-bandwidth and advanced memory continues to surge for AI infrastructure, rising DRAM and NAND prices are disproportionately affecting lower-cost smartphones, where memory accounts for a much larger share of manufacturing costs than in premium devices. IDC said the trend is likely to continue favoring vendors with stronger supply agreements, greater scale and higher-margin product portfolios.
The research firm said the memory shortage has sharply increased component costs, particularly for entry-level devices, forcing manufacturers to rethink product strategies and pricing while widening the competitive gap between premium and budget smartphone vendors.
"Memory costs are up nearly 300% from a year ago, and now account for over 65% of the bill of materials at the low end, making survival increasingly difficult for OEMs with low-end portfolios," Nabila Popal, senior research director for Worldwide Consumer Devices at IDC, said in a statement.
The second quarter marked the second consecutive period of year-over-year shipment declines as manufacturers continued to grapple with constrained memory supply.
According to IDC, Samsung retained the top position with 62.7 million shipments, up 8.1% from a year earlier, while Apple recorded the fastest growth among the top five vendors, shipping 55.8 million iPhones, a 15.3% increase year over year. The firm attributed Apple's performance to strong demand for the iPhone 17 and purchases ahead of expected price increases.
In contrast, Chinese smartphone makers continued to lose ground. Xiaomi shipments fell 26.3%, while OPPO and vivo declined 17.5% and 19.4%, respectively.
"This memory crisis has split the smartphone market in two," Francisco Jeronimo, IDC vice president for Worldwide Client Devices, said.
"At the top, Apple and Samsung are pulling away because they secured supply early and sell where memory is a smaller share of the bill of materials. At the bottom, the vendors exposed to cheap, high-volume devices are absorbing the pain—and so are their customers."
IDC said Samsung increased its global market share to 22.6% from 19.5% a year earlier, while Apple's share rose to 20.1% from 16.3%, strengthening the lead of the two largest smartphone makers.
The pressure has been particularly acute for vendors competing in the sub-$200 smartphone segment. Kiranjeet Kaur, associate research director for Worldwide Consumer Devices at IDC, said many Chinese manufacturers are repackaging older devices or introducing 4G variants to maintain lower price points while coping with rising component costs.
Xiaomi posted the steepest decline among the leading vendors as it deliberately reduced shipments of lower-margin entry-level devices in favor of premium models, IDC said.
Huawei was the notable exception among Chinese manufacturers, recording 20.9% shipment growth by maintaining stable pricing in China while competitors raised prices, supported by strong domestic demand and a broader product portfolio.
The findings underscore how the AI-driven memory shortage is reshaping the smartphone market. As demand for high-bandwidth and advanced memory continues to surge for AI infrastructure, rising DRAM and NAND prices are disproportionately affecting lower-cost smartphones, where memory accounts for a much larger share of manufacturing costs than in premium devices. IDC said the trend is likely to continue favoring vendors with stronger supply agreements, greater scale and higher-margin product portfolios.
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