AI’s memory chip crunch is crushing the smartphone market

Smartphone shipments plunged a record 22%, according to IDC, as soaring memory costs force manufacturers to raise prices and abandon cheaper models.

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The smartphone market suffered its worst decline on record in the September quarter, as rising memory costs pushed shipments down 22%, with worse to come, according to market researcher IDC. Memory chip prices increased by a stunning 350% over the past year, IDC says, because of competition for memory from AI industry players.

That’s cut into smartphone manufacturers’ profits and forced them to raise prices, cut back on specifications, and discard budget-focused models, says Nabila Popal, senior research director for Worldwide Devices at IDC. Chinese brands like Xiaomi Corp.........

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