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Smartphone makers could be in for a bumpy ride next year, as surging memory prices make devices more costly to produce.
Counterpoint Research has become the latest analyst firm to cut its smartphone outlook. It has lowered its shipment forecast by 2.6 percentage points, and now expects the market to decline in 2026 by 2.1%, led by Chinese OEMs.
The surging price of DRAM is squarely to blame.
Insatiable demand for cloud and AI infrastructure has resulted in shortages, and as such DRAM prices jumped 40-60% in Q4, according to Counterpoint, which warns that prices could rise by another 40% through 2026.
