Global smartphone shipments fell 4.1% YoY in Q1, the first drop since mid 2023, amid memory constraints; only Samsung and Apple grew shipments, at 3.6% and 3.3%
Limited memory supply and record high memory prices increase pressure on smartphone OEMs to reduce shipments and increase prices that dampen demand.
WW smartphones -4.1% YoY in 1Q26 under supply challenges. Samsung led, followed by Apple, while other vendors fell YoY. Emerging markets will be a challenge in the year ahead https://www.idc.com/... [image]
The global smartphone market suffered its first decline since 2023 in the first quarter of this year, according to market tracker IDC, with the memory chip supply crunch and war in Iran likely to elevate costs and constrain growth further https://www.bloomberg.com/...
Global smartphone shipments were down -4.1% in Q1 2026 due to AI data centers driving up demand and thus prices of memory chips. — This mainly affected cheaper phones leading to Apple and Samsung who make premium devices to be the 2 of top 5 smartphone OEMs who've seen sales gr…