Smartphone shipments hit 13-year low in Q2 as AI memory shortage hammers industry

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Global smartphone shipments fell successful the 2nd quarter, arsenic the representation and retention shortage continues to wound into user exertion industries.

According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone shipments declined 11% twelvemonth implicit year, marking the segment's worst 2nd 4th successful 13 years.

"The planetary representation situation has present overtaken each different origin arsenic the azygous biggest resistance connected the smartphone industry. What started arsenic a components contented past twelvemonth is present a full-blown request issue," Counterpoint Research elder expert Shilpi Jain said successful a statement.

International Data Corporation (IDC) besides noted a crisp diminution successful 2nd 4th smartphone shipments, estimating a 6.7% diminution connected the backmost of the representation crisis.

Various probe firms usage antithetic models to estimation shipments.

Apple's caller iPhone 17 smartphones are demonstrated successful a store during preparations for the series' motorboat of income successful Moscow, Russia, September 20, 2025. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

The crisp declines are particularly damaging for the entry-level and mid-range segments, which are acold much price-sensitive than the premium smartphone market.

"Memory costs are up astir 300% from a twelvemonth ago, and present relationship for implicit 65% of [bill of materials] astatine the debased end, making endurance progressively hard for OEMs with low-end portfolios," IDC elder probe manager for Worldwide Consumer Devices, Nabila Popal, wrote successful a probe note.

"Q2 confirms precisely what we predicted: this is not a azygous downturn; representation situation is favoring premium players and punishing vendors exposed to the debased end."

Research steadfast Omdia pointed to a little drastic driblet successful shipments, but similar Counterpoint Research and IDC, said the representation shortage has created "severe marketplace polarization."

All 3 probe groups said that Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (005930.KS) shipments accrued successful Q2, portion Chinese firms similar Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo bore the brunt of the downturn.

Despite near-term growth, however, immoderate analysts spot imaginable headwinds for premium brands, particularly Apple.

On Monday, KeyBanc Capital Markets' Brandon Nispel released an capitalist enactment downgrading Apple banal to Underweight connected concerns that imaginable terms increases connected aboriginal iPhones, coupled with a simplification successful wireless bearer promotions and subsidies, could unit consumers to clasp connected to their existing devices longer.

That, helium writes, could yet pb to slowing maturation successful Apple's Services segment.

"We spot Apple's Services gross increasing 13.5% successful FY27… but slowing to 7% successful FY27," helium wrote.

Estimates bespeak the representation situation could past into adjacent twelvemonth oregon further, with immoderate experts saying it could instrumentality until 2030 for the AI-induced bottleneck to clear.