According to a new IDC report, smartphone shipments are forecast to decline 12.9% year-on-year in 2026 and it will affect all consumer electronics industry, at least until mid-2027.

“What we are witnessing is not a temporary squeeze, but a tsunami-like shock originating in the memory supply chain, with ripple effects spreading across the entire consumer electronics industry”.

"The tariffs and pandemic crisis seem a joke compared to this […]We don't expect the situation to ease up until mid-2027, at least.”

"While memory prices are projected to stabilize, they are unlikely to return to previous level. In short, there is no return to business as usual for vendors and consumers."

They say companies like Apple and Samsung that have big margins can absorb part of the price hike, but smaller vendors might need to leave the industry or significantly raise its prices. Surely, this will affect the prices and sales of new gaming hardware for at least the next two years. Any thoughts?

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Reported in Bloomberg, CNET, The Verge, Reuters and others.

Bloomberg article has more detail, but is behind a paywall.


Link to the IDC article.

It's already made it virtually impossible to get a Steam Deck until at least next year. I could probably sell my 512GB for $1000 on eBay.

We just gotta hope that the AI bubble pops sooner rather than later.

I'm gonna get a new smartphone this year so not good timing for me there. Though I can't complain since I got 64GB of RAM for my new PC last year only half a year before prices started skyrocketing.

Time to switch back to PRAM




Fewer smart phones is music to my ears lol.

Maybe people will find the value in taking care of their stuff again, as well as boom times for second hand markets.