Global smartphone shipments sag in second quarter, as budget brands suffer most
Global smartphone shipments fell 6.7% in the second quarter of 2026, as lower-cost brands like Xiaomi (1810.HK), Vivo and Oppo suffered double-digit declines after soaring memory costs forced them to raise their prices. By comparison, premium brands like Apple (AAPL.US) and Samsung (005930.KS) bucked the trend with strong shipment gains during the quarter, as they absorbed the higher memory costs without major price hikes.
Manufacturers shipped 277.5 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter, down from 297.4 million units a year earlier, according to IDC data released on Monday. Xiaomi’s shipments plunged 26.3% year-on-year, as its share of the global market fell 3 percentage points to 11.2%. Oppo’s shipments fell 17.5%, dropping its market share to 10.4%, while Vivo’s shipments fell 19.4%, giving it 7.6% of the global market.
Samsung was the leading smartphone seller in the quarter, logging an 8.1% shipment increase to boost its global market share by 3.1 percentage points to 22.6%. Apple was the second leading brand with 15.3% year-on-year shipment growth, boosting its share of the global market by 3.8 percentage points to 20.1%.
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