Global smartphone SoC shipments declined by 15% year-over-year (YoY) in the first half (H1) of 2026, hurt by rising memory costs, cautious inventory management by smartphone manufacturers and a longer replacement cycle, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Global Smartphone SoC Shipments Preliminary View report. MediaTek and Qualcomm’s shipments declined by more than 25% YoY in H1 2026. Yet even against this cost pressure, GenAI smartphone SoC shipments grew by 24% YoY in H1 2026, as premiumization trends and rising consumer demand for AI features continued to lift shipments in the mid-high, premium and flagship price tiers. “Global smartphone SoC shipments are expected to decline by 14% YoY in 2026,” said Counterpoint Principal Analyst Soumen Mandal. In H1 2026, smartphone memory costs surpassed SoC costs across all price segments and we do not expect the memory supply to normalize before H2 2027, which means the smartphone industry could experience another difficult year in 2027.”