From October 20-22 along the banks of Shanghai's Huangpu River, the 2026 Sustainable Global Leaders Conference returns once again. Nobel and Turing Award winners will take the stage to discuss the future and trends of technology, and the internet-famous professor who "rescues" people from anxiety and involution—Macfarlane—will hold a live dialogue with Xiang Biao!
Limited seats available, first come first served. Let us come together for the sustainable appointment! [Click to register]
According to the latest report from market research firm IDC, global smartphone shipments in the third quarter fell 22% year-over-year, marking the largest quarterly decline on record. The main reason is that the artificial intelligence industry continues to expand its procurement of memory chips, driving up memory and storage costs, which has squeezed smartphone manufacturers' profit margins.
Facing cost pressures, manufacturers have been raising prices, reducing product configurations, or canceling low-end models. IDC expects that the global smartphone market will not return to growth until 2028 at the earliest.
AI Crowds Out Memory Chip Supply, Forcing Phone Makers to Raise Prices and Cut Configurations
IDC pointed out that over the past year, the AI industry's demand for memory chip procurement has continued to grow, pushing up prices of related components, which has become the primary cause of the sharp contraction in the smartphone market. Rising memory chip costs directly compress smartphone manufacturers' profit margins, with a particularly severe impact on mid-to-low-end models that already have limited profit margins. To cope with cost pressures, some manufacturers have chosen to raise phone prices, while others have controlled costs by lowering hardware configurations, or even directly canceling low-end products aimed at price-sensitive consumers. IDC believes this change is driving a structural adjustment in the smartphone market, with manufacturers gradually shifting their business focus toward higher-margin products rather than simply pursuing shipment volume growth.
Apple and Samsung Relatively Resilient, IDC Expects No Market Recovery Before 2028
Among major phone manufacturers, Apple and Samsung have performed relatively steadily due to their larger share of high-end models. As manufacturers continue to raise prices and guide consumers toward flagship and ultra-premium models, IDC expects that companies like Apple with mature global sales channels and high-end product portfolios are poised to further expand their share in an overall shrinking market. However, IDC believes the impact of rising memory chip costs will be persistent, and the global smartphone market has already undergone structural changes, with shipment growth unlikely to recover until 2028 at the earliest.
Comments