Phone makers had a better spring than forecast as buyers rushed to purchase before memory chip costs push prices higher, but the rebound looks temporary.

• Global smartphone output fell 8% from a year earlier, a smaller drop than predicted, lifting the full-year forecast.
• Buyers moved purchases forward because they expect phone prices to jump in 2027 as memory chips get more expensive.
• Samsung held the top spot and Apple grew fastest, helped by iPhone 17 pricing that landed well with shoppers.
• OPPO, Xiaomi and vivo stopped chasing market share and are defending profits instead, squeezed at home by Huawei.
• Transsion was hit hardest, down 27%, because it sells cheap phones and had less low-cost memory stockpiled.

Outlook: The pickup is borrowed demand, so next year production likely falls harder as memory prices keep climbing and the coming iPhone 18 arrives with a higher price tag.