The global smartphone market is set for its steepest decline in more than a decade in 2026, as surging memory prices drive up device costs and weaken demand, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) and industry sources.
Samsung Electronics has supplied its Exynos modem chipset to Chinese wireless module maker Fibocom, marking a notable expansion of its system semiconductor business into external clients, according to inews24 and Greened.
As the industry enters the stocking phase ahead of new smartphone launches, mobile chip customers are undergoing an inventory adjustment period. The supply chain indicates that this demand correction has cascaded from IC design down to foundry, packaging, and testing — expected to significantly dampen order growth for Taiwanese OSAT players such as ASE, SPIL, and KYEC heading into the consumer peak season.
Samsung Electronics is planning to increase the prices of certain smartphone models released in 2025, marking a rare move amid rising global chip prices and fluctuating exchange rates, which are driving up key component costs.
Rising demand for computing power from generative AI and the semiconductor industry's move toward high-performance computing are reshaping the smartphone supply chain, with global implications for device availability, pricing, and component sourcing as memory prices rise, capacity shifts toward AI workloads, and smartphone production forecasts point to substantial declines ahead.
Apple marks its 50th anniversary on April 1, after helping shape multiple waves of the technology industry, from personal computing to the internet and mobile eras. As artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as the next phase, the company is coming under closer scrutiny in the transition.
Samsung's Exynos 2600 application processor (AP), built on the company's 2nm process, lags in battery endurance behind Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 — a 3nm chip — by about 30%, according to a recent test. This gap has had a tangible impact on Samsung Electronics' Galaxy S26 series, with battery life varying significantly across regions depending on which AP the device uses.
Smartphone makers continue to roll out new models, as Xiaomi announced on March 31, 2026, that it will launch the POCO X8 Pro and POCO M8 5G series in Taiwan. Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics also unveiled two new Galaxy A series models — the A57 5G and A37 5G — marking the first time that an A series phone supporting e-SIM has been introduced in Taiwan.
China-based Lens Technology is accelerating a shift beyond consumer electronics, positioning itself across AI terminals, server infrastructure, robotics, and commercial aerospace as it seeks to reduce reliance on the smartphone cycle.
The used mobile phone recycling market in China has recently heated up, with even non-functional old phones being collected at significantly higher prices than before. This surge is driven by a severe global shortage of consumer-grade memory chips.
Huawei has recruited a leading scientist from a German research institute, raising concerns among the German government and academic circles. According to Nikkei Asia, Martin Schell, formerly director of Germany's Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI), announced his departure and moved to the UK in March to become research director at Huawei's Bragg Research Center.
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