Global Smartphone Shipments Plummet 20% to 14-Year Low in Q3 2026

Global smartphone shipments experienced a significant 20% year-over-year decline in the third quarter of 2026, reaching their lowest third-quarter performance since 2012. This downturn is primarily attributed to a worsening shortage and rising costs of DRAM and NAND memory chips, which are crucial components in smartphones and are increasingly being absorbed by demand from AI data center buildouts.