Huawei to hold the line as memory price surge hits China’s smartphone makers: report
As higher memory prices raise costs for China’s handset makers, a research firm predicted Huawei would be the only domestic brand to increase shipments
Chinese smartphone makers are preparing for their most challenging year since the Covid-19 pandemic, as analysts say skyrocketing memory chip prices are forcing brands to make a difficult choice: absorb the higher costs, raise retail prices or downgrade storage configurations.
In a report published on Monday, market research firm Counterpoint projected that global smartphone shipments would plunge nearly 14 per cent this year to about 1.08 billion units – the industry’s lowest volume since 2013.
The sharp contraction was being driven by the dual blow of soaring memory costs and sluggish consumer demand for replacement handsets.