A rise in the need for computers and data centers to power AI is causing a massive shortage of RAM , driving memory prices sharply higher . Now, analyst firm IDC predicts that this will cause smartphone shipments to plummet by 12.9% this year, making it the biggest single-year dip in more than a decade. Hours after IDC published its report, another analyst firm, Counterpoint, made a similar prediction and said the market will dip by 12% this year. Earlier this year, IDC reported that manufacturers shipped 1.26 billion devices in 2025 . The firm predicts that figure will drop to just 1.12 billion this year. “The memory crisis will cause more than a temporary decline; it marks a structural reset of the entire market, fundamentally reshaping the long‑term TAM [total addressable market], the vendor landscape, and the product mix,” said Nabila Popal, senior research director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, in a statement.…