Major phone flop forecast

The global smartphone market is predicted
to see a record-breaking decline in 2026,
fuelled by the international RAM
shortage brought about by
AI’s relentless hunger
for memory chips

WORLDWIDE SMARTPHONE
SHIPMENTS FORECAST
(billions of units)

2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

1.30
1.25
1.20
1.15
1.10
1.05
1.00

1.17
1.24
1.26
1.10
1.12
1.18
1.21
1.24

-3.4
6.2
2.0
-12.9
1.9
5.2
2.7 
2.2

Key
Shipments
Year-on-year growth (%)

Forecast

Even by 2030, sales will
not have recovered to
2025 levels

Sources: The Verge, IDC
Photo-illustration created with aid of Google Gemini
© GRAPHIC NEWS