The smartphone market is shaking because of the thirst for memory chips
(Dan Tri) - Experts predict that memory chip supply will still be scarce until the second half of 2027. The entire smartphone industry will have to go through at least another difficult year.
The cost of memory chips for smartphones continues to increase due to scarce supply (Photo: PhoneArena).
According to Counterpoint Research, the sharp increase in DRAM and NAND costs has caused memory prices to exceed SoC costs in smartphone configurations for the first time. This forces firms to cut production, prioritize high-end equipment and extend the market recovery cycle at least until the second half of 2027.
The report said that global smartphone chip shipments decreased by 15% in the first half of 2026. The main reason came from rising memory costs, long device upgrade cycles and caution by smartphone manufacturers.
MediaTek and Qualcomm's chip shipments decreased by more than 25% in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, Apple, Samsung, Google and UNISOC recorded steady growth during this period.
"Compared to the same period last year, Apple's chip market share increased by 4% thanks to impressive performance from the iPhone 17 series. In contrast, both Qualcomm and MediaTek decreased their market share. The Samsung Galaxy S26 series uses both Qualcomm and Exynos chips. Meanwhile, sales of the Xiaomi 17 series did not meet expectations.
For MediaTek, mid-range and low-cost chips are also facing difficulties due to the global memory crisis," Shivani Parashar, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, shared.
The report also said that many low-cost smartphone models are gradually switching to UNISOC's platform to optimize costs. This has helped UNISOC achieve significant growth in the first half of 2026.
Experts predict that by the second half of 2027, the smartphone market can stabilize (Photo: CNet).
In the second quarter, memory prices for smartphones increased more than 300% compared to the same period last year. This is considered the main reason affecting the selling price of the terminal.
According to analyst Soumen Mandal, the amount of smartphone chips shipped globally will decrease by 14% in 2026. In particular, the low-cost segment is expected to be most seriously affected with output possibly decreasing by up to 30%.
"In the first half of 2026, the cost of memory for smartphones has surpassed the cost of chips in all price segments. It is expected that memory supply will remain scarce at least until the second half of 2027. This means the entire smartphone industry will have to go through another difficult year," Soumen Mandal predicted.