The global smartphone market suffered its first decline since 2023 in the first quarter of this year, according to market tracker International Corp Data (IDC), with the memory chip supply crunch and war in Iran likely to elevate costs and constrain growth further.
Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co were the only top-five brands to post growth, as each increased shipments by more than 3 percent year-on-year while the overall market fell 4.1 percent, the IDC said on Tuesday.
With roughly a fifth of overall shipments each, the two biggest companies are better positioned to secure long-term supply and handle surging costs than Chinese peers. Rivals from Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀) to Xiaomi Corp (小米) saw shipments plummet this year, as component and logistical costs surged.
Photo: Qilai Shen, Bloomberg
“We expect the first quarter slowdown to be a mild precursor for what lies ahead in 2026,” IDC analysts led by Nabila Popal said in a report. “In several emerging markets, prices have risen by as much as 40–50 percent, significantly weighing on demand.”
Apple had a strong quarter in China, with its popular iPhone 17 series helping it to 30 percent growth in the world’s biggest smartphone arena. Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Honor Device Co (榮耀) also managed to grow their shipments over the period, with the latter’s overseas expansion helping deliver a 24 percent improvement on the prior year, IDC said. Still, all companies will have to adapt their lineups to account for a memory chip crunch that’s expected to last until the second half of next year.
Counterpoint Research data released last week also found a 6 percent drop in first-quarter shipments, though it placed Apple ahead of Samsung in the market-share rankings. Both market-tracking firms pinned the blame primarily on the impact of surging memory costs.
Beside more expensive parts and materials, smartphone brands also face higher shipping costs due to conflict in the Middle East, and many are now reorganizing their spending, Popal said. That includes lowering the specifications of certain models and cutting back on marketing and support for distributors, which is limiting growth, she said.
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