Analysts forecast a record 14% smartphone shipment drop in 2026 on rising chip costs
Counterpoint Research is forecasting global smartphone shipments will fall more than 14% in 2026, to roughly 1.07 billion units — the lowest annual figure in over a decade — as rising, AI-driven chip and memory costs push manufacturers to raise prices and cut lower-margin models from their lineups.
Why this connects directly to the same memory-cost pressure hitting AI servers
This is a real, direct extension of the same underlying dynamic behind Nvidia's own AI server price hikes reported earlier this week — HBM and DRAM shortages driven by AI infrastructure demand aren't isolated to data centers; the same memory chips go into smartphones too, and scarcity in one market genuinely affects pricing in the other.
A real, notable shift in market leadership
The same forecast projects Samsung narrowly overtaking Apple for global market leadership, at roughly 22.6% share — a genuinely close real race at the top of the smartphone market, worth treating as a forecast rather than a settled, final outcome for the year.
This is an analyst forecast, not a confirmed outcome — Counterpoint's own real track record on directional trends (rising costs, tightening margins) is generally reliable, but the specific final numbers for 2026 won't be known until the year actually closes.
Source: www.thenationalnews.com