2026 Smartphone Market Forecast Highlights AI-Driven Growth
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: 5 days ago
0mins
Source: Newsfilter
- Global Telecom Growth: NIQ forecasts an 8% growth in the global telecom sector by 2026, primarily driven by an AI-driven upgrade cycle, indicating a shift towards higher intelligence and integration in the smartphone market.
- Changing Consumer Demands: As consumers prioritize intelligent functionality and seamless integration, AI emerges as a key differentiator in premium smartphones, with 9% of consumers opting for new phones due to AI performance improvements, although it is not the primary purchase driver.
- Market Structure Evolution: The premium smartphone market is capturing increasing growth, even as low to mid-range devices remain the primary source of unit volume; advancements in AI technology are enhancing consumer focus on traditional purchase drivers like battery life and camera performance.
- Smartphone Ecosystem: Smartphones are evolving into the central hub for connecting consumers' digital lives, with expectations shifting towards seamless experiences across devices and greater personalization, prompting manufacturers to adjust their product design and market strategies.
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Analyst Views on NIQ
Wall Street analysts forecast NIQ stock price to rise
9 Analyst Rating
8 Buy
1 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 8.270
Low
17.50
Averages
21.07
High
24.00
Current: 8.270
Low
17.50
Averages
21.07
High
24.00
About NIQ
NIQ Global Intelligence PLC is a global consumer intelligence company. The Company provides brands, retailers and other clients with a holistic view of consumer shopping behavior globally to drive strategic and operating decisions. It manages a comprehensive and integrated ecosystem - The NIQ Ecosystem - which combines proprietary data, technology, human intelligence, software applications, and analytics solutions. Its unified, artificial intelligence powered technology platform aggregates, harmonizes and enriches vast amounts of global consumer shopping data from diverse sources, generates proprietary reference data and metadata, and provides a global, omnichannel view of consumer shopping behavior - The Full View. Its solutions include market measurement, consumer behavior and insights, innovation, brands and media, analytics and activation, and product finder. Its industries include consumer packaged goods, financial services, media, public sector, retail, and others.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
2026 Smartphone Market Forecast Highlights AI-Driven Growth
- Global Telecom Growth: NIQ forecasts an 8% growth in the global telecom sector by 2026, primarily driven by an AI-driven upgrade cycle, indicating a shift towards higher intelligence and integration in the smartphone market.
- Changing Consumer Demands: As consumers prioritize intelligent functionality and seamless integration, AI emerges as a key differentiator in premium smartphones, with 9% of consumers opting for new phones due to AI performance improvements, although it is not the primary purchase driver.
- Market Structure Evolution: The premium smartphone market is capturing increasing growth, even as low to mid-range devices remain the primary source of unit volume; advancements in AI technology are enhancing consumer focus on traditional purchase drivers like battery life and camera performance.
- Smartphone Ecosystem: Smartphones are evolving into the central hub for connecting consumers' digital lives, with expectations shifting towards seamless experiences across devices and greater personalization, prompting manufacturers to adjust their product design and market strategies.
See More
Cotto Wins NIQ Founders Pitch Slam Competition
- Competition Victory: Cotto emerged as the winner of NIQ's fourth annual Founders Pitch Slam, securing a prize package valued at over $750,000, including a $50,000 cash award, highlighting its success in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
- Brand Positioning: Cotto features high-protein dips made from whipped cottage cheese that reimagine classic flavors, catering to consumer demand for healthier snacks, showcasing its competitiveness and innovation in the market.
- Market Support: As the winner, Cotto will gain exclusive access to NIQ's data and consumer intelligence experts, which will aid in deeper market understanding and accelerate its growth strategy.
- Industry Impact: NIQ's Founders Pitch Slam provides a platform for emerging brands, reflecting the company's commitment to innovation and aiming to support new brands in standing out in a competitive marketplace through data and expertise.
See More
NIQ Launches Comprehensive Beauty Channel Measurement
- New Beauty Channel View: NIQ's upcoming Full View of Beauty Channel, set to launch in Q4 2026, will integrate data from multiple retailers, including Ulta Beauty and Sephora, providing a comprehensive view of market performance that enables brands to strategize more effectively in a competitive landscape.
- Amazon 3P Measurement: NIQ's new Amazon third-party measurement feature, launching in Q3 2026, will focus on Health and Beauty Care, offering item-level sales data that significantly enhances brands' analytical capabilities on the Amazon marketplace, thereby boosting cross-channel competitiveness.
- Increased Market Transparency: By integrating data across various retail channels, NIQ's new solution will dramatically enhance all commodity volume (ACV) visibility, allowing brands to make more informed decisions in a complex market environment, ultimately driving business growth.
- Strengthened Strategic Partnerships: The launch of these new capabilities complements NIQ's strategic data-sharing collaboration with Ulta Beauty, further solidifying NIQ's leadership position in the beauty industry and ensuring its competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
See More
NielsenIQ Unveils Six New AI Capabilities
- AI Capabilities Launch: At the C360 event, NielsenIQ unveiled six new AI capabilities aimed at helping brands and retailers operationalize trusted market intelligence across enterprise workflows and AI environments, thereby enhancing decision-making efficiency and market responsiveness.
- Delivering The Full View: By combining the broadest and deepest datasets with advanced AI models, NielsenIQ's AI value creation strategy enables organizations to unlock actionable insights and drive AI innovation at scale, thus strengthening their competitive position in the market.
- Integration and Connectivity: New capabilities such as NIQ Optiq and ConnectAI Suite allow for the embedding of NIQ intelligence directly into enterprise tools and AI workflows, assisting clients in making intelligent decisions in rapidly changing market environments.
- Preparing for Future Commerce: NielsenIQ's Commerce Intelligence pillar focuses on helping clients prepare for the increasing influence of AI in product discovery, recommendations, and purchasing decisions, thereby positioning them advantageously in future commercial landscapes.
See More
NielsenIQ Launches New Global Data Synchronization Network Capability
- Expansion of Product Intelligence: NielsenIQ's new Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) capability, built on Brandbank's product content, enables brands to create, govern, and activate a single trusted product record across supply chains, retail, and ecommerce, enhancing data consistency and business performance.
- Data Synchronization and Validation: This capability simplifies workflows, allowing brands and retailers to synchronize, validate, and distribute product data across multiple channels, reducing errors and delays, thereby accelerating time to market and improving product discoverability.
- AI-Driven Competitive Advantage: By enabling structured product data to flow directly into AI recommendation engines and shopping interactions, NielsenIQ helps brands gain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market, addressing the growing demand for AI-powered shopping experiences.
- Future-Ready Solution: The GDSN capability not only supports compliance but also drives commercial performance, assisting brands in achieving higher value in digital shelf performance and AI-driven shopping experiences, marking a significant step in NielsenIQ's Commerce Intelligence strategy.
See More
NIQ Named 2026 Retail & Consumer Goods Partner of the Year
- Award Recognition: NielsenIQ (NIQ) was honored with the 2026 Retail & Consumer Goods Snowflake Product Partner of the Year award at Snowflake's annual user conference, highlighting its exceptional performance in delivering scalable cloud-native solutions and reinforcing its leadership in the retail and consumer goods sector.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Through Snowflake's AI Data Cloud, NIQ enables clients to securely enrich data and measure performance, allowing retailers and brands to transition more swiftly from insights to actions, thereby enhancing decision-making efficiency and market responsiveness.
- Technological Integration Advantage: By combining its proprietary global transaction data with Snowflake's secure data sharing and clean room technology, NIQ empowers customers to rapidly activate data and achieve closed-loop measurement within the modern retail ecosystem, driving continuous business optimization.
- Future Vision: NIQ's achievements reflect its vision to fuel the future of trusted AI, aiming to elevate commerce intelligence from mere measurement to orchestration, helping clients maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
See More
2026 Smartphone Market Forecast Highlights AI-Driven Growth
- Global Telecom Growth: NIQ forecasts an 8% growth in the global telecom sector by 2026, primarily driven by an AI-driven upgrade cycle, indicating a shift towards higher intelligence and integration in the smartphone market.
- Changing Consumer Demands: As consumers prioritize intelligent functionality and seamless integration, AI emerges as a key differentiator in premium smartphones, with 9% of consumers opting for new phones due to AI performance improvements, although it is not the primary purchase driver.
- Market Structure Evolution: The premium smartphone market is capturing increasing growth, even as low to mid-range devices remain the primary source of unit volume; advancements in AI technology are enhancing consumer focus on traditional purchase drivers like battery life and camera performance.
- Smartphone Ecosystem: Smartphones are evolving into the central hub for connecting consumers' digital lives, with expectations shifting towards seamless experiences across devices and greater personalization, prompting manufacturers to adjust their product design and market strategies.
See More
Cotto Wins NIQ Founders Pitch Slam Competition
- Competition Victory: Cotto emerged as the winner of NIQ's fourth annual Founders Pitch Slam, securing a prize package valued at over $750,000, including a $50,000 cash award, highlighting its success in a rapidly evolving retail landscape.
- Brand Positioning: Cotto features high-protein dips made from whipped cottage cheese that reimagine classic flavors, catering to consumer demand for healthier snacks, showcasing its competitiveness and innovation in the market.
- Market Support: As the winner, Cotto will gain exclusive access to NIQ's data and consumer intelligence experts, which will aid in deeper market understanding and accelerate its growth strategy.
- Industry Impact: NIQ's Founders Pitch Slam provides a platform for emerging brands, reflecting the company's commitment to innovation and aiming to support new brands in standing out in a competitive marketplace through data and expertise.
See More
NIQ Launches Comprehensive Beauty Channel Measurement
- New Beauty Channel View: NIQ's upcoming Full View of Beauty Channel, set to launch in Q4 2026, will integrate data from multiple retailers, including Ulta Beauty and Sephora, providing a comprehensive view of market performance that enables brands to strategize more effectively in a competitive landscape.
- Amazon 3P Measurement: NIQ's new Amazon third-party measurement feature, launching in Q3 2026, will focus on Health and Beauty Care, offering item-level sales data that significantly enhances brands' analytical capabilities on the Amazon marketplace, thereby boosting cross-channel competitiveness.
- Increased Market Transparency: By integrating data across various retail channels, NIQ's new solution will dramatically enhance all commodity volume (ACV) visibility, allowing brands to make more informed decisions in a complex market environment, ultimately driving business growth.
- Strengthened Strategic Partnerships: The launch of these new capabilities complements NIQ's strategic data-sharing collaboration with Ulta Beauty, further solidifying NIQ's leadership position in the beauty industry and ensuring its competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
See More
NielsenIQ Unveils Six New AI Capabilities
- AI Capabilities Launch: At the C360 event, NielsenIQ unveiled six new AI capabilities aimed at helping brands and retailers operationalize trusted market intelligence across enterprise workflows and AI environments, thereby enhancing decision-making efficiency and market responsiveness.
- Delivering The Full View: By combining the broadest and deepest datasets with advanced AI models, NielsenIQ's AI value creation strategy enables organizations to unlock actionable insights and drive AI innovation at scale, thus strengthening their competitive position in the market.
- Integration and Connectivity: New capabilities such as NIQ Optiq and ConnectAI Suite allow for the embedding of NIQ intelligence directly into enterprise tools and AI workflows, assisting clients in making intelligent decisions in rapidly changing market environments.
- Preparing for Future Commerce: NielsenIQ's Commerce Intelligence pillar focuses on helping clients prepare for the increasing influence of AI in product discovery, recommendations, and purchasing decisions, thereby positioning them advantageously in future commercial landscapes.
See More
NielsenIQ Launches New Global Data Synchronization Network Capability
- Expansion of Product Intelligence: NielsenIQ's new Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) capability, built on Brandbank's product content, enables brands to create, govern, and activate a single trusted product record across supply chains, retail, and ecommerce, enhancing data consistency and business performance.
- Data Synchronization and Validation: This capability simplifies workflows, allowing brands and retailers to synchronize, validate, and distribute product data across multiple channels, reducing errors and delays, thereby accelerating time to market and improving product discoverability.
- AI-Driven Competitive Advantage: By enabling structured product data to flow directly into AI recommendation engines and shopping interactions, NielsenIQ helps brands gain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market, addressing the growing demand for AI-powered shopping experiences.
- Future-Ready Solution: The GDSN capability not only supports compliance but also drives commercial performance, assisting brands in achieving higher value in digital shelf performance and AI-driven shopping experiences, marking a significant step in NielsenIQ's Commerce Intelligence strategy.
See More
NIQ Named 2026 Retail & Consumer Goods Partner of the Year
- Award Recognition: NielsenIQ (NIQ) was honored with the 2026 Retail & Consumer Goods Snowflake Product Partner of the Year award at Snowflake's annual user conference, highlighting its exceptional performance in delivering scalable cloud-native solutions and reinforcing its leadership in the retail and consumer goods sector.
- Data-Driven Decision Making: Through Snowflake's AI Data Cloud, NIQ enables clients to securely enrich data and measure performance, allowing retailers and brands to transition more swiftly from insights to actions, thereby enhancing decision-making efficiency and market responsiveness.
- Technological Integration Advantage: By combining its proprietary global transaction data with Snowflake's secure data sharing and clean room technology, NIQ empowers customers to rapidly activate data and achieve closed-loop measurement within the modern retail ecosystem, driving continuous business optimization.
- Future Vision: NIQ's achievements reflect its vision to fuel the future of trusted AI, aiming to elevate commerce intelligence from mere measurement to orchestration, helping clients maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving market.
See More
