Monthly market insights - July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 5
Memory Costs Drive Vehicle Prices
Expect more automakers to follow General Motors in
locking down supply rather than buying on the spot
market. Micron’s Strategic Customer Agreement with
GM points the way, and further such deals are likely
as automotive DRAM prices are projected to keep
climbing while legacy DDR4 and LPDDR4 supply is
progressively phased out toward 2028, according to
S&P Global Mobility.
With memory now one of the largest single cost lines
in vehicle electronics, further cost pass-through into
retail vehicle pricing looks likely over the second half
of the year, particularly for models with higher ADAS
and infotainment content.
PC Growth Slows, Smartphone Shipments Fall
The consumer hardware picture is expected to stay
soft into year-end. IDC does not expect a repeat of
the inventory pull-forward seen earlier in the year,
pointing instead to a sharper slowdown in PC growth
rates during the second half as vendors prepare for
further price increases heading into 2027.
On smartphones, full-year 2026 shipments are still
projected to fall around 12.9% to roughly 1.12 billion
units, the lowest annual total in over a decade,
even as average selling prices are forecast to climb
toward a record US$523. TrendForce expects the
largest, best-capitalised vendors to keep taking
share from smaller rivals as memory allocation
remains the deciding factor.
Geopolitics Outlook
“
WASHINGTON’S AI
Trade policy looks set for a quiet stretch before it
doesn’t. Following the Trump-Xi summit, the current
freeze on new technology restrictions is generally
expected to hold at least through September 2026,
while China’s suspension of rare-earth export
controls runs until November, making the autumn
the next real test of the relationship rather than
anything imminent.
OVERWATCH ACT COULD
SOON GIVE CONGRESS
VETO POWER OVER AI CHIP
the AI Overwatch Act remains in play,
EXPORT LICENSES, WITH InandWashington,
its progress through Congress over the coming
months is worth tracking closely, as it would hand
MOVEMENT LIKELY BY
lawmakers veto power over future AI chip export
licenses currently held by the Commerce Department.
NOVEMBER.
Distributors with exposure to cross-border AI
”
hardware flows should treat the September to
November window as the period most likely to bring
policy movement.
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