The global smartphone market had its weakest third quarter in 14 years, Reuters reported, citing preliminary estimates released by Counterpoint Research on Monday. Shipments were down 20% from the same quarter last year, and the total was the lowest for any third quarter since 2012. A shortage of memory chips, along with their rising cost, squeezed phone makers and led to higher prices on store shelves, as reported by Reuters.
Memory Crunch Drives Prices Up
AI infrastructure projects have been absorbing a large share of the world's memory chip supply, sending component prices higher. As building phones got more expensive, brands began charging customers more. Many also chose to ship fewer devices, putting profit margins ahead of sales numbers.
Buyers are responding by changing their habits. “Consumers are holding on to their devices longer than estimated, increasingly considering refurbished devices and prioritizing higher-value devices,” said Shilpi Jain, senior analyst at Counterpoint.
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Samsung Holds On to the Top Spot
Samsung remained the world's largest smartphone vendor with a 23% share of the market. Counterpoint credited strong sales of the Galaxy Z Fold8 series for the result. Samsung also benefited from a reliable flow of parts for its mid-range models. Even so, Samsung's shipments slipped 3% from a year earlier, a far smaller decline than the overall market.
Apple's Share Crosses 20%
Apple took a 22% share of the market, the first time its share has gone above 20% in a third quarter. That means Apple accounted for more than one in five smartphones shipped worldwide during the quarter. This came even though the company shipped fewer iPhones than it did a year earlier.
Counterpoint said Apple's launch-month shipments to retailers were smaller this year because there was no base iPhone 18 model. A year ago, Apple launched the full iPhone 17 lineup, which meant more devices were sent out to stock store shelves during the launch month.
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Chinese Brands See Steep Declines
Chinese manufacturers were hit harder than Samsung. Shipments from OPPO and vivo each fell by more than 20% compared with the same period last year.
Xiaomi saw an even steeper drop, with shipments down more than 30%. That cut its market share to 10%. Counterpoint said Xiaomi made a deliberate choice to protect its margins, selling fewer budget phones and reducing its presence in some markets outside China.
A Market Under Pressure
The figures show how the memory shortage is reshaping the smartphone market. With component costs rising, brands are opting for fewer, more profitable sales, while consumers are keeping their phones for longer or turning to refurbished alternatives. Counterpoint's numbers are preliminary estimates, so the final figures could change.
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