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LONDON -- (Business Wire)

According to Omdia’s latest research, global smartphone shipments fell 4% year-on-year in 2Q26 as the ongoing memory crisis disrupted supply and pushed up component costs. The current dynamic has created severe market polarization, reflecting stark differences in vendors’ mitigation strategies which vary according to their priorities, scale, price-band focus, and core audience demographics.

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Worldwide smartphone shipment market share top vendors 2Q22 to 2Q26

In particular, Samsung and Apple bucked the downward trend, growing shipments and increasing their market share by 2 and 4 percentage points compared with 2Q25, respectively.

Samsung remained the largest smartphone vendor in 2Q26 with 22% market share, helped by resilient demand and strong supply availability. The delayed launch of the Galaxy S26-series pushed some demand into the second quarter for the premium segment. At the same time, Samsung gained ground in the budget segment as Chinese rivals pivoted to a more conservative strategy, by reducing product lines and increasing device sell-in prices.

Apple delivered its best second-quarter performance ever, capturing a record-high 20% market share during what traditionally is its slowest quarter of the year. The iPhone 17 series delivered one of the strongest iPhone refresh and upgrade cycles in Apple’s history. Apple also benefited from stable pricing while most competitors were forced to raise their pricing. However, as Apple raised pricing across other products towards the end of 2Q, a key question remains to what extent iPhones might be impacted by similar hikes later this year.

Meanwhile, mass market segment declines squeezed many players beyond the top two. On the ranking table, Xiaomi defended its third spot with 11% market share. OPPO held fourth at 10% share as it underwent restructuring to optimize its three-brand umbrella. vivo rounded out the top five with 8% market share.

“The steepest volume drops hit the sub-$400 mass market segment, where supply constraints are tightest, profit margins are slimmest, and price sensitivity is highest,” said Runar Bjorhovde, Principal Analyst at Omdia. “To adapt, vendors are shifting their strategies from volume to value by reoptimizing portfolios and adjusting retail pricing. Managing the surging component costs is incredibly complex and unpredictable, with some vendors facing memory costing more than four to five times what they did a year ago. Memory and storage alone now account for more than 60% of the bill-of-material for budget devices and more than 30% for high-end models. Although memory and storage costs are the biggest challenges for vendors, they are far from the only challenge. New semiconductor bottlenecks, such as within foundries, are adding further cost pressures.”

“While vendors hope for near-term price corrections, memory price declines are expected to begin at the earliest in the second half of 2027. However, prices are unlikely to return to pre-2025 levels,” said Le Xuan Chiew, Research Manager at Omdia. “Smartphone vendors’ tactical adjustments should not be considered short-term response tactics but rather key permanent strategic shifts that will ensure business agility and sustainability in the years to come."

“We anticipate the sharpest volume declines to hit in the upcoming two quarters, where normal seasonal demand peaks — driven by new launches, holidays and shopping festivals — collide with constrained memory chip supply,” added Bjorhovde. “Consequently, vendors are expected to lean further into the higher price segments to capitalize on customers seeking device upgrades in 2026’s sales season. However, while moving upmarket protects margins and revenue, vendors offer fewer options to budget-constrained consumers. Many mass-market buyers will be forced to delay purchases, downgrade expectations, utilize financing, or opt for refurbished devices.”

ABOUT OMDIA

Omdia, part of Informa TechTarget, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTGT), is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets grounded in real conversations with industry leaders and hundreds of thousands of data points, make our market intelligence our clients’ strategic advantage. From R&D to ROI, we identify the greatest opportunities and move the industry forward.

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Contacts:

Fasiha Khan: fasiha.khan@omdia.com
Eric Thoo: eric.thoo@omdia.com

Source: Omdia