Nairobi, July 19 -- The global smartphone market has slumped to its weakest second quarter in more than a decade as the artificial intelligence (AI) I infrastructure boom diverts memory chips away from consumer electronics, driving up handset prices and squeezing demand in sensitive markets like Kenya.

Global smartphone shipments fell by 11 percent year-on-year in the three months to June, marking the lowest second-quarter volumes since 2013, according to market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research.

The slowdown comes as soaring prices for memory chips, key components in smartphones, challenge phone-manufacturing after chip makers shifted production capacity towards high-margin AI data centres.

The supply squeeze has been compounded...