Due to a worldwide memory shortage, shipments of the latest smartphone chips fell sharply early this year. The trend is expected to continue for one to two years.
According to the "latest global smartphone system-on-chip (SoC) shipment report" released by market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 28th, first-quarter global smartphone SoC shipments fell 8% from a year earlier.
Counterpoint Research said, "The ongoing memory shortage is affecting new product development for both smartphone manufacturers (OEMs) and chipset companies, and is pressuring product portfolio optimization," and analyzed, "The premium market remains relatively resilient, but a significant portion of the increased expense is being passed on to final consumer prices."
It added, "In the budget segment, adoption of low-cost chipsets is expanding to maintain smartphone price competitiveness."
By company, U.S. chipset company Qualcomm and Taiwan's MediaTek recorded double-digit shipment declines.
In contrast, Apple, Samsung, Google, and UNISOC showed growth. These corporations appear to have relatively mitigated the impact of the memory shortage through integrated supply chain structures.
Counterpoint Research said, "Qualcomm was expected to benefit from an expanding premium market, but the impact was limited as Samsung's Galaxy S26 series adopted both Snapdragon 8 Elite and Exynos 2600, and demand for the Xiaomi 17 series weakened."
MediaTek, for its part, is under greater pressure in the budget segment, and many manufacturers are expected to switch to UNISOC chipsets to cut expense.
As the memory shortage continues through the second half of next year, this situation is expected to last at least until early 2028. Accordingly, smartphone SoC shipments this year are highly likely to post a double-digit decline from a year earlier, Counterpoint Research explained.