Global smartphone AP industry, 2Q 2026: 2nm and memory costs to weigh on 3Q26 shipments

DIGITIMES noted that in the second quarter of 2026, Huawei was the only brand in China's smartphone market to sustain year-over-year sales growth, prompting an upward revision of Hisilicon's 5G application processor (AP) shipments by 3.8 million units. Looking into the third quarter of 2026, handset brands are building inventory ahead of the fourth-quarter peak season, which should restore global smartphone AP shipments to a more normal seasonal pattern. DIGITIMES expects global smartphone AP shipments to rise 15.2% quarter-over-quarter. At the same time, LPDDR, NAND flash, and 2nm AP costs are all rising, pushing smartphone brands to raise handset prices. With end demand still under pressure, AP shipments are forecast to fall 13.0% from the same period in 2025.

In this report, DIGITIMES presents the smartphone AP shipments for 2Q26 and the estimated shipments for 3Q26. It also highlights the factors that impact the price trends, as well as the movements of major vendors in the sector.