Memory price surge clouds peak season; Chinese brands' 4Q26 smartphone shipments to drop over 35%
Despite new smartphone launches from Apple, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi, memory prices are rising, which is weakening sales momentum and prompting Chinese smartphone brands to adjust their product mix. DIGITIMES Intelligence senior analyst Luke Lin expects smartphone shipments in China to fall more than 13.5% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2026, and total shipments by Chinese brands to decline more than 35% year-over-year. These shipment declines are analyst expectations, not realized results.
- Related manufacturers
- Apple, Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi
- Impact score
- 95 / 100, high impact