Overview
- Preliminary sell‑in reports released Monday showed a sharp Q2 slowdown with Counterpoint estimating an 11% year‑on‑year drop and Omdia reporting a smaller decline, and both firms recording share gains for Samsung and Apple.
- Samsung reclaimed the global lead on strong Galaxy S26 sales and fewer price hikes in some markets while Apple grew iPhone shipments about 3% and reached a record roughly 20% quarterly share by maintaining stable retail pricing.
- The memory squeeze — makers prioritizing DRAM and NAND for AI data centers — has pushed memory and storage to a much larger share of phone bill‑of‑materials, making entry and mid‑range models the most vulnerable.
- Budget‑focused Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo saw the steepest volume declines after raising prices, trimming low‑margin models, and extending older generations to cope with higher component bills.
- Analysts now expect a deeper full‑year shipment decline and say elevated memory prices and capacity constraints are likely to persist into 2027, delaying a meaningful market recovery until memory supply expands.