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Smartphone Market to Shrink 13% on Memory Crisis, IDC Says (1)

Feb. 27, 2026, 7:00 AM UTC
Vlad Savov
Vlad Savov
Bloomberg News

The global smartphone market will contract 12.9% in 2026 because of the unprecedented memory chip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” according to researcher IDC.

The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that’s affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and now jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers.

The unintended consequences of the memory chip shortage are escalating. A report by market research firm IDC forecasts a 13% contraction in the smartphone market, with the crisis lasting until 2027. Bloomberg Tech: Asia speaks with IDC’s Bryan Ma on their report. Macquarie’s Daniel Kim also discusses the outlook for the Korean memory chip giants Samsung and SK Hynix.

IDC now sees roughly 1.1 billion mobile shipments in 2026, down from 1.26 ...

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