The smartphone market is slowing down While Samsung and Apple strengthen their position as market leaders. The confirmation comes from the new Omdia report on shipments of third quarter of 2026.
An obvious slowdown
After -6% in the second quarter, another extremely negative quarter ends for the sector with a drop in shipments equal to 20%.
In the meantime, Samsung and Apple strengthen their position on the market with one overall share of shipments equal to 45% and an increase of approximately 8 points compared to last year. The data is evident from the graph below.
Samsung reached 23% market share in the quarter while Apple it reached 22%. For both this is a growth of 4 points compared to the same quarter last year.
Net decline for Xiaomi, OPPO And Livecompanies that make up the Top 5 (also considering the various sub brands, as highlighted in the table below).
For Chinese manufacturers, therefore, this is a very difficult quarter, with negative numbers involving all the big names in the sector.
It should be noted that even the “others” are decreasing, with a reduction in share of 2 points. This category includes Motorola, HONOR, Huawei, Google and all the other manufacturers.
Lucas Zhong, senior analyst at Omdia, commented:
“For suppliers competing primarily on affordability, protecting profitability without sacrificing shipment scale has become an increasingly difficult balance. This pressure is particularly acute in emerging markets, where consumers are more price-sensitive and suppliers rely heavily on entry-level devices with already slim profit margins. However, reducing shipments to protect margins carries long-term risks, especially for emerging suppliers, as the loss of market presence can weaken brand visibility and share of channel interest, which could take years to be rebuilt. Instead of retreating on all fronts, suppliers must make more deliberate choices about where to compete, focusing resources on markets and products that can sustain both profitability and market relevance.”
