Smartphone Shipments Crash 20%, Worst Q3 in Years

Global smartphone shipments just had their worst third quarter in more than a decade, and your next phone is probably going to cost more because of it. According to Omdia, shipments fell twenty percent from a year earlier to 254.7 million units, the lowest third-quarter total since 2013.

The Numbers Behind the Crash

The slide is steep, and it is speeding up. Omdia says the drop widened from a six percent decline in the previous quarter. That happened even though brands were stocking shelves for the holidays and launching new flagships.

Other trackers see the same thing. Counterpoint Research also put the decline at twenty percent and called it the weakest third quarter in fourteen years, while IDC reported a twenty-two percent fall to 255.3 million units, which it described as its steepest quarterly drop on record, as summarised by Updater News. When three separate research firms land in the same ugly neighbourhood, it is not a fluke.

Why Phones Are Getting Pricier

The culprit is memory. Prices for the DRAM and storage chips inside every phone have shot up, and Omdia says rising device prices are weighing on demand, especially in emerging markets. Distributors and retailers are also nervous, since pricier phones mean more cash tied up in stock, so they are ordering less ahead of the holidays.

Counterpoint's analysis links the shortage to the AI boom. As the data-centre buildout soaks up memory supply, fewer chips are left for consumer devices, and costs for phone makers jump. Counterpoint said continued memory constraints limited supply for most manufacturers during the quarter.

Omdia adds that big vendors are responding by changing RAM and storage setups, cutting the number of models, and absorbing some costs while pushing higher-value phones to protect profit. Translation for shoppers: fewer cheap options and more spec trade-offs.

Apple and Samsung Hold the Line

Not everyone got hurt equally. As reported by MacDailyNews, citing Omdia, Samsung shipped 57.8 million phones, down five percent, for a twenty-three percent share. Apple shipped 56.5 million iPhones, flat on last year, lifting its share to twenty-two percent from eighteen percent.

Together the two giants now control about forty-five percent of the market. Apple benefited from strength in China and North America, steady interest in the iPhone 17 lineup, and channel stocking before expected price increases. The company also unveiled its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, in September, and pushed the base iPhone 18 to 2027.

Budget-focused brands took the beating. Xiaomi fell twenty-nine percent, vivo thirty-three percent, and OPPO, which includes realme and OnePlus, thirty-nine percent. Cheap Android phones live on thin margins, so a jump in memory costs hits them hardest.

Where It Hurts Most

Emerging markets are carrying the pain. Africa dropped thirty-nine percent, according to Light Reading, which also notes Europe fell nineteen percent while North America slipped just one percent. Omdia says currency swings, inflation and rising living costs are pushing buyers to hold on to old phones, buy refurbished ones, or in some low-income markets fall back to feature phones.

That is a big shift. Emerging markets were once the engine of smartphone growth, and now they are the weak spot. North America looks sturdier because carrier financing, trade-ins and upgrade deals soften the sticker shock.

What This Means for Your Next Upgrade

Omdia expects full-year smartphone shipments to fall twelve percent in 2026, with more price hikes and few promotions through the holiday season. Its outlook for 2027 is also gloomy because memory supply stays tight.

If you are eyeing a new phone, expect fewer deals and maybe less RAM or storage for the money. Waiting could mean paying more, not less. For the latest on how this squeeze is shaping devices, check our tech coverage, because this memory crunch is shaping up to be the defining story of the gadget year.

The bigger question is whether premium brands with loyal customers and financing plans will simply pull further ahead while everyone else shrinks. For now, the data says yes, and the gap between flagship giants and budget challengers is widening fast.