Memory Crisis Contracts Global Smartphone Shipments

IDC forecasts the global smartphone market will shrink 12.9% in 2026 to about 1.1 billion shipments, Bloomberg reported. The firm attributes the downgrade to an unprecedented DRAM and NAND shortage driven by AI memory demand, which will hit low-cost Android models hardest. Premium devices such as Apple’s iPhone are expected to weather the crisis better and may gain relative market share.