Bryan Ma

Vice President, Devices Research, IDC

Search every verified Bryan Ma interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Bryan Ma, Vice President of Devices Research at IDC, discussed the smartphone market in a September 2026 appearance, focusing on trends in "premiumization" and the impact of rising memory costs. He stated that while global smartphone shipments are expected to decline by approximately 16–17% in unit terms, the average selling price is projected to rise by nearly 30%, which he said could keep the overall dollar value of the market relatively stable. Ma attributed the unit decline primarily to the sub-$200 low-end segment, where rising memory costs are squeezing profitability. In the same discussion, Ma commented on competition in China's premium smartphone market, asserting that Huawei and Apple are "basically two players" in that space even without considering foldables. He said that recent product launches by Huawei and Xiaomi were designed to preempt Apple's expected releases and noted that Huawei holds a significant share of the foldables market in China. Ma also observed that AI services are a key draw for premium devices, adding that Chinese brands have a head start in offering such services locally, and that Apple would need to refine its Siri offering for China to remain competitive there.