• As the memory supply shortage intensifies in 2026, the sales share of low-end smartphones ($99 and under) is declining significantly, and the rate of decline is far exceeding the rate of contraction of the overall market.
  • This is a result of memory manufacturers focusing on producing high-value-added products due to the surge in demand for HBM for AI servers, causing the supply of general-purpose memory for low-end phones to be relegated to a relatively lower priority.
  • The impact varies by brand. Emerging market brands heavily reliant on low-end lineups (such as Transsion and Xiaomi) are expected to take the biggest hit, whereas Samsung and Apple, with their premium portfolios, will experience relatively limited impact and are expected to benefit from some indirect effects.
  • The memory shortage is expected to gradually ease starting from the end of 2027. However, prior to the recovery, the mid-to-low price range ($100-$249) may gradually fall. Consequently, the sales share of the high-end and premium segments is expected to expand.


An analysis of global smartphone sales for the 15 months from January 2025 to March 2026 reveals that while the market generally maintains seasonalities, distinct structural changes have been emerging since early 2026. Although the average monthly sales remains at around 100 million units, a sharp contraction in the low-end segment is observed in terms of sales share by price range.