Devices & Platforms

Southeast Asia smartphone market declines as rising memory costs push up prices

Southeast Asia smartphone market declines as rising memory costs push up prices

The Southeast Asian smartphone market declined 9% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, as vendors raised device prices to protect margins amid rising memory chipset costs.

According to analyst firm Omdia, smartphone shipments in the region fell to 21.6 million units from 23.7 million a year earlier. At the same time, average selling prices (ASP) hit a record $349, up 19%, driven largely by higher RAM and memory component costs.

Omdia warned that memory chipset prices are expected to continue rising throughout 2026, increasing affordability pressure in Southeast Asia, where more than 60% of smartphones sold are priced below $200.

Samsung remained the region’s largest vendor with 4.6 million shipments and a 21% market share, supported by strong demand for its Galaxy S26 and A-series devices.

Oppo ranked second with 4.2 million shipments, down 17%, partly impacted by realme officially rejoining the company as a sub-brand earlier this year.

Xiaomi took third place with 3.7 million units shipped, down 12%, as price increases across its portfolio weighed on volumes.

Transsion, which owns the Infinix and Tecno brands, recorded a 10% decline to 3.4 million units shipped.

Vivo completed the top five with 2.1 million shipments, suffering the steepest decline among the major vendors at 27%, after scaling back its focus on entry-level smartphones.

Apple ranked sixth with 1.8 million shipments and flat year-on-year growth, as the iPhone 17 saw fewer discounts compared to previous generations.

Honor was one of the few brands to post strong growth, with shipments rising 28% to 1.2 million units despite the wider market downturn.

Omdia Research Manager Le Xuan Chiew said the key trend in the quarter was the combination of record-high smartphone prices and declining shipment volumes, driven largely by rising memory costs. He added that vendors are also tightening supply management to avoid aggressive discounting across retail channels.



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