Chip price increases lead to smartphone collapse, Goldman Sachs lowers smartphone shipment forecasts.

Recently, Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for global smartphone shipments in 2026 and 2027, citing the continued increase in memory chip prices, which is expected to further drag down demand. Goldman Sachs has reduced its shipment forecast for global smartphones in the next two years by 4% and 3%, to 1.14 billion units in 2026 and 1.17 billion units in 2027. This means that Goldman Sachs predicts a 10% year-on-year decrease in smartphone shipments this year compared to last year, and a 3% year-on-year increase in 2027. Previously, the institution's forecast was a 6% year-on-year decrease in smartphone shipments this year and a 2% year-on-year increase next year. Goldman Sachs believes that its softer outlook is mainly due to the rising cost of memory chips. The increased demand from the artificial intelligence industry has led to a shortage of chip supply, prompting major memory chip manufacturers to redirect more production capacity to serve the AI industry, making memory chip capacity even more scarce in the consumer electronics sector.