Why Memory Prices Are Crushing Smartphone Sales in 2026

Shipments stumbled this quarter. The smartphone market didn’t just slow — it slipped noticeably.

FDM CCS Insight’s latest figures show global smartphone shipments fell 7% in Q2 compared with the same quarter in 2025, and dipped 3% versus Q1 2026. The consultancy now expects an overall 12% decline in handset shipments for the year. Those are not small ripples; they’re a sign that buyers are rethinking how much they’ll pay for a new device.

Who’s taking the hit? Price-sensitive buyers, mostly in emerging markets, where any component-driven uplift in retail cost quickly knocks demand. Developed regions such as Europe and North America saw only low single-digit drops, but in markets where consumers shop on tighter margins, the impact has been sharper and faster.

New smartphones were 13% more expensive in Q2 than in Q1 because memory prices spiked amid a global shortage. That sudden jump in component costs is changing purchase calculus: if a phone costs noticeably more off the shelf, more buyers start hunting for cheaper alternatives.

Enter the secondary market. Refurbished sales grew about 3% year over year in Q2, and FDM projects roughly 9% growth for the full year. Consumers are increasingly choosing refurbished handsets as a practical response to sticker shock — the device works the same day-to-day, but the price doesn’t punish the buyer.

But the resale market isn’t a perfect safety valve. High demand and constrained supply are nudging used-phone prices upward as well. In the U.S., fewer trade-ins mean fewer devices flow back into refurb channels, tightening availability. Exports of used phones from places like China and Japan help plug the gap, but they don’t erase the pressure.

What happens next depends largely on memory-chip markets. If DRAM and NAND prices stay elevated through the second half of 2026, expect new phone prices to climb further, resale values to remain firm, and manufacturers to juggle margins, model lineups and inventory planning more aggressively than usual.

Keep an eye on chip inventories and trade-in trends — they’re shaping not only what people buy, but which brands survive the squeeze.