Smartphone market set to shrink 12.9 percent: IDC‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gainsBloombergThe global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gradual gains. “The tariffs and [COVID-19] pandemic crisis seem a joke compared to this,” IDC senior research director Nabila Popal said. “The smartphone market will witness a seismic shift by the time this crisis is over — in size, average selling prices and competitive landscape. Last year, there were about 170 million smartphones shipped that cost below US$100, a segment that IDC said is now uneconomical to maintain.

Source: Taipei Times February 27, 2026 17:15 UTC