Global smartphone sales contracted for a ninth consecutive week in mid-May 2026, falling 8 per cent year-on-year, yet Apple and Huawei bucked the downturn with double-digit growth. Apple’s iPhone sales rose 10 per cent and Huawei’s surged 23 per cent, while Samsung, Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo all declined, according to Counterpoint Research. The divergence reflects a widening gap in supply-chain stability and pricing power, as a global memory-chip shortage forces manufacturers to raise prices, trim features or delay product launches. Promotional events in China and India failed to revive demand, and memory prices are expected to remain elevated through the rest of the year.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook told the Wall Street Journal that price increases were now “unavoidable” because the cost of memory chips had become “unsustainable”. RAM prices have more than doubled since October 2025, driven by surging demand from artificial intelligence and disruption to helium supply caused by the conflict in Iran. Research firm Omdia forecasts the average selling price of a smartphone will rise by around 20 per cent in 2026 to an all-time high, with Apple’s upcoming iPhone 18 likely to cost up to $150 more than its predecessor. Most brands have already raised prices, cut back on promotions or reduced specifications to protect margins.

Viewed from Washington, the chip shortage is also accelerating a geopolitical reordering of semiconductor supply chains. President Donald Trump claimed on Truth Social that Apple had agreed to work with Intel to design and manufacture chips in the United States, a move that would reduce the company’s reliance on Taiwan’s TSMC. Neither Apple nor Intel has confirmed the deal, but earlier reports indicated a preliminary agreement and testing of Apple’s system-on-chip designs on Intel’s 18A process. The US government holds a 10 per cent stake in Intel following an $8.9 billion investment under the CHIPS Act, and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has reportedly pressed Apple executives for more than a year to shift production back to American fabs.

The memory boom has propelled Micron Technology’s shares up more than 340 per cent this year, with a single-month surge of nearly 88 per cent in May pushing its market capitalisation past $1 trillion. Micron’s fiscal third-quarter results, due on 24 June, are now a bellwether for the entire AI memory cycle. Analysts in Taipei note that the company’s HBM4 ramp and its acquisition of a Powerchip plant in Taiwan are already feeding into local supply chains: Powerchip’s monthly revenue growth accelerated to 59 per cent in May, while packaging and testing firm Powertech has flagged preparations for HBM advanced packaging. The earnings report will provide the next concrete signal on whether order visibility extends further, and whether the current memory upcycle has further to run.