Smartphone Prices Keep Rising as Sales Slump

The global smartphone market fell sharply in the third quarter of 2026. Research firm IDC said shipments dropped 22% to just 255.3 million units compared with the same period a year earlier. The decline was driven by a surge in memory component prices amid strong demand for artificial intelligence, and the market is not expected to reach its lowest point any time soon.

Nabila Popal, IDC’s senior research director, said cost pressures continue to mount.

“Memory costs have surged 350% since last year and continue to rise, squeezing manufacturers’ profits and reducing the number of units they can ship,” she said.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are said to have recognised the need to prepare for a permanent structural shift in the industry’s cost dynamics.

At the same time, this period of disruption is creating opportunities for new winners to emerge.

Popal stressed that the market has yet to hit bottom, and said a recovery is not expected to become visible until 2028 at the earliest.

Samsung leads, with Apple close behind

Competition at the top remains fierce, although almost all players have seen shipments decline.

Samsung retained first place by a very narrow margin over Apple. Although both companies suffered declines, their drops were far smaller than those of the third- to fifth-ranked manufacturers, which recorded declines of more than 29%.

The shift in market shares is also noteworthy: despite shipping fewer units, Samsung and Apple both increased their share of the market compared with a year earlier. This suggests that, as the market contracts, the two major brands are capturing a larger slice than their rivals.