A new Bloomberg report covering IDC data offers a dire outlook for the smartphone market in 2026 due to the current memory chip crisis, but Apple and the iPhone could actually benefit in one key way.
Apple likely to grow iPhone marketshare in 2026 due to shrinking Android production
Vlad Savov writes at Bloomberg:
The global smartphone market will contract 12.9% in 2026 because of the unprecedented memory chip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” according to researcher IDC.
The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that’s affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and now jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers.
Savov explains that the memory crisis could create a major shift in the smartphone market, with low-cost Android models being hit much harder than the iPhone.
Why would Android be impacted more? Because of the “already thin profit margins for many Android device brands.”
Essentially, plenty of Android makers won’t be able to afford the higher DRAM and NAND costs in their budget smartphones, so it’s expected that fewer models will be produced overall.
Ultimately, IDC predicts 2026 will see 1.1 billion smartphones shipped globally, down from 1.26 billion in 2025.
However, the report adds: “Premium handsets, like the bulk of Apple Inc.’s iPhone lineup, will weather the crisis better.” We’ve seen reporting already that Apple plans to keep its iPhone 18 pricing largely consistent.
So even though Apple will have plenty of its own challenges to face during the memory shortage, it stands poised to earn a larger share of the overall smartphone market this year as cheaper Android offerings become untenable.
Do you expect Apple to raise iPhone prices this year due to the memory crisis? Let us know in the comments.
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