Global smartphone shipments in the second quarter of 2026 decreased by 6.7% compared to the same period last year—to 277.5 million units, according to preliminary estimates by the International Data Corporation (IDC). This marks the second consecutive quarter of decline.
The decline in shipments is due to a shortage of memory chips and record-high prices for them.
“The cost of memory chips has risen by nearly 300% over the past year; it now accounts for more than 65% of the cost of goods sold in the low-end price segment, making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers with budget-friendly product lines to survive,” said Nabila Popal, senior research director at IDC. “The memory crisis favors premium players and works against vendors operating in the low-end price segment.”
For the second quarter in a row, Apple Inc. and Samsung have demonstrated stability, remaining the only vendors in the top five to report sales growth, she noted. Apple achieved record results in the second quarter thanks to the success of the iPhone 17 and concerns about future price increases.
“This crisis has split the smartphone market into two parts,” said Francisco Geronimo, vice president of global client devices at IDC. “At the top are Apple and Samsung.”
They are pulling ahead of other companies, in part because they sell devices in which memory chips account for a smaller share of the cost. “At the bottom, manufacturers focused on low-cost, mass-produced devices are suffering—and so are their customers,” the expert said.
IDC, memory, SHIPMENT, smartphone, ЧИП
In Ukraine, 1.1 million pieces of jewelry made of precious metals received the state hallmark during the first quarter of 2026, OpenDataBot reported on July 17, citing data from the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine.
The average monthly number of hallmarked jewelry items was 18% lower than in 2025. Last year, 5.4 million items passed state hallmarking inspections, which was 26% less than in 2024.
The largest decline in 2025 was in the hallmarking of silver items—down 32%. The number of gold jewelry items that passed inspection decreased by 20%.
After the outbreak of full-scale war, the market contracted sharply, but in 2023–2024 it rebounded to levels above pre-war levels. In 2023, 6.4 million pieces of jewelry received the state hallmark, and in 2024 a record was set at 7.3 million items.
The state hallmark certifies that a piece of jewelry meets the declared fineness of the precious metal. Ukrainian law prohibits the sale of jewelry without such a hallmark.
Gold jewelry surpassed silver for the first time in terms of the number of hallmarks in Ukraine
In 2025, gold jewelry surpassed silver for the first time in terms of the number of items passing state hallmarking inspections, according to data from the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine published by “OpenDataBot” on July 17.
In the first quarter of 2026, the share of gold jewelry among all hallmarked items rose to 57%, while silver accounted for 43%. By comparison, in 2020, silver jewelry accounted for 72% of the market, and gold for only 28%.
In total, since 2020, 20.8 million silver items and 15 million gold items have undergone state hallmarking. Thus, in the cumulative six-year statistics, silver still holds first place with a 58% share.
The shift in market structure is partly due to the rising price of silver and growing industrial demand for the metal. Silver is widely used in the production of solar panels, electric vehicles, electronics, and semiconductors, leading jewelry companies to compete increasingly with the industrial sector for raw materials.
The Hungarian government has launched an investigation into former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó’s contacts with Russian authorities, Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on July 16.
According to him, the case file contains classified documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies. However, it is not yet known which agency is conducting the investigation, whether a criminal case has been opened, or whether Szijjártó is considered a suspect.
The investigation was prompted by reports that the former minister may have briefed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the progress of negotiations within the EU. Szijjártó denied the allegations and stated that he had not passed on classified information to Moscow.
The investigation coincided with his departure from politics. On July 15, Szijjártó announced that he was resigning his parliamentary seat to take a leadership position at the Chinese company BYD. The prime minister called this a conflict of interest, since while serving as minister, Szijjártó had been involved in providing state support to the company.
According to Fixygen, the cryptocurrency market is ending the week of July 13–17 at a level close to where it started: Bitcoin is trading at around $63,000, while the total market capitalization of digital assets stands at approximately $2.2 trillion.
As of Friday, Bitcoin was trading at around $63,020, down approximately 1.7% over the past 24 hours. The leading cryptocurrency’s share of the total market capitalization is estimated at 56–58%. Ethereum, Solana, and most other major digital assets were also under pressure. SOL was trading at around $78, and XRP at around $1.06.
On Monday, Bitcoin fell below $62,000 amid a new escalation of the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, rising oil prices, and an exodus of investors from risky assets. After the release of U.S. inflation data, which came in weaker than expected, the cryptocurrency rebounded and rose above $65,500 on July 15, but was unable to sustain the gains.
By the end of the week, pressure on the crypto market intensified due to a sell-off in tech and semiconductor stocks, rising oil prices, and new geopolitical risks in the Middle East. On Friday, Bitcoin lost about 2% over the course of the day and returned to the $63,000 level.
Capital flows in U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs remained volatile. On Monday, the funds recorded a net outflow of $424.7 million, followed by inflows of $181.1 million on Tuesday, $107.7 million on Wednesday, and $79.1 million on Thursday. As a result, the cumulative outflow over the four trading days totaled approximately $56.8 million. Data for Friday had not yet been published at the time of writing.
An additional source of uncertainty was the debate in the U.S. over the Clarity Act, a bill intended to establish regulations for the cryptocurrency market and delineate the powers of financial regulators. Progress on the bill has slowed due to disagreements in the Senate and concerns about a potential conflict of interest related to President Donald Trump’s cryptocurrency holdings.
In the corporate sector, the week’s main event was Citadel Securities’ investment in the cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com. The market maker invested $400 million, valuing the platform at $20 billion. This is Crypto.com’s first round of institutional funding. The funds raised are planned to be directed toward the development of operations involving tokenized securities and derivatives.
At the same time, pressure remains on public companies that have built up large Bitcoin reserves. Strategy has already sold approximately $218 million worth of digital assets in 2026 to fund dividends and maintain its dollar reserves. The decline in cryptocurrency prices has led to the shares of a number of similar companies trading below the value of the digital assets they hold.
Thus, softer U.S. inflation data and the resumption of capital inflows into ETFs have failed to ensure a sustained market recovery. Next week’s market dynamics will depend on developments in the Middle East, oil prices, capital flows into cryptocurrency funds, and further progress on U.S. legislation regarding digital assets.
In June 2026, Ukrainian citizens purchased 170 residential properties in Turkey and tied for second place among foreign buyers with Iranian citizens, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute released on July 17.
Russian citizens purchased the most properties that month—381 units. Ukrainians and Iranians each bought 170 properties and jointly ranked second in the list.
In total, 2,015 residential properties were sold to foreigners in Turkey in June, which is 20.1% more than in June 2025. Foreigners accounted for 1.6% of the total number of residential property transactions.
At the same time, from January through June 2026, foreigners purchased 9,083 thousand residential properties in Turkey—9.2% fewer than during the same period last year. Thus, the growth in June has not yet offset the overall decline in foreign demand during the first half of the year.
Across the Turkish market as a whole, 129,979 residential properties were sold in June, a 15.8% increase year-over-year. Sales of new homes rose by 23.1% to 43,406 units, while sales of resale homes increased by 12.5% to 86,573 units.
Ukrainians are traditionally among the largest foreign buyers of Turkish real estate. Throughout 2025, they purchased 1,541 thousand properties and ranked third behind citizens of Russia and Iran. In June 2026, Ukraine rose to a tie for second place.
Dubai authorities issued 1,051,978 new residency permits in the first half of 2026, according to the emirate’s General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA).
During the same period, 910,552 existing residence permits were renewed, and more than 5.078 million entry permits were issued to foreigners in various categories. The number of long-term Golden Visas issued totaled approximately 66,000.
However, the figure of 1 million permits does not mean that Dubai’s population increased by the same number of people over the six-month period. Some of the recipients may have already been in the emirate on tourist, work, or other visas. The statistics also do not account for foreigners who left Dubai or did not renew their residency.
According to the authorities, all immigration services in Dubai have been digitized, and the average processing time for a single transaction is less than four minutes. Customer satisfaction is estimated at 95%.
“Golden Visas” are granted to investors, entrepreneurs, scientists, skilled professionals, cultural and sports figures, as well as certain categories of students and graduates. This visa allows holders to reside in the UAE for an extended period without a traditional employer sponsor and to apply for residency for family members.
Dubai’s population at the end of 2024 was approximately 4.25 million. Men accounted for 68.5% of the emirate’s residents, a figure attributed to the large number of foreign workers arriving without their families.
The UAE as a whole is home to people of more than 200 nationalities, with foreigners making up the overwhelming majority of the population. The largest group consists of people from India. Significant communities have been formed by citizens of Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Iran, Egypt, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. UAE citizens make up a minority of the country’s population.
The rapid influx of residents is driving demand for housing, commercial real estate, schools, healthcare, and transportation. At the same time, population growth is increasing the strain on Dubai’s roads, utilities, and public transportation.
