This is the latest statistic released by market research company Counterpoint Research. This shows that memory shortages are affecting both smartphone manufacturers and SoC providers in developing new products, while forcing them to optimize their product portfolios.
The high-end segment remains relatively stable, with higher costs, mostly shifted to end consumers. Meanwhile, low-end phone manufacturers are increasingly applying lower-cost chipsets to keep smartphones competitive.
MediaTek and Qualcomm still lead in market share, accounting for 33% and 24%, respectively, but shipments decreased compared to the same period last year. From January to March 2025, the shipments of SoC chips of these 2 companies accounted for 38% and 27% of the market respectively.
Conversely, Apple, Samsung, Google and UNISOC achieved positive growth. The integrated supply chain has helped Apple, Samsung and Google better minimize the impact of the current memory shortage.
Commenting on the moves of smartphone SoC providers, senior analyst Shivani Parashar analyzed that Qualcomm and MediaTek are the two manufacturers most affected by the current memory shortage situation, although for various reasons.
Qualcomm is expected to benefit from the high-end segmentation, but the impact is limited because Samsung's Galaxy S26 line uses both Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and Exynos 2600 chips, along with reduced demand for the Xiaomi 17 line. Meanwhile, MediaTek faces greater pressure in the low-price segment.
“We predict that many OEMs will switch to using UNISOC chipsets to reduce costs. At the same time, weaker growth in the mid-range and high-end segments, along with the delayed launch of Dimensity 9500+, further affects MediaTek's business results.
UNISOC will benefit from the cheap 4G segment as well as increasing design contracts in the cheap 5G smartphone segment. Support from Chinese brands such as Redmi and Poco has helped boost the double-digit shipment growth compared to the same period last year in the first quarter of 2026," shared an expert from Counterpoint Research.
Commenting on the prospects of the smartphone SoC market, chief analyst Soumen Mandal said: "We predict smartphone SoC shipments will decrease sharply by two digits in the second quarter, and the situation may worsen in the second half of the year.
Memory shortages are expected to continue until the second half of 2027. Both smartphone manufacturers and chipset suppliers are delaying product launches, keeping new versions and adjusting spending on new product development to overcome these challenges.
