Omdia’s Worldwide Smartphone Shipments report for Q3 2026 confirms what we already know: shipments continue to decline due to the memory shortage.
Samsung stayed on top, shipping 57.8 million units in Q3 2026. Despite being number one, that’s still a 5% YoY drop. The budget-friendly Galaxy A series helped them stay competitive, as well as the August launch of the Galaxy Z8 series and its trade-in and upgrade programs.
Apple is in the second spot, shipping 56.5 million in the said quarter. Apple is lucky to have a flat YoY, while others suffered a decline. As per Omdia, iPhones’ strong demand in China and North America was able to offset its weakness in emerging markets.
Xiaomi dominated the Chinese brands by sitting in the top third spot worldwide. They shipped 30.7 million units, suffering a 29% YoY decline. Omdia highlighted how Xiaomi has been increasing its prices for margin protection.
OPPO (w/ realme and OnePlus) took the fourth spot, shipping 23.4 million units, a 39% YoY drop.
vivo completes the top five list with 19.3 million units, suffering the highest YoY drop of 33%.
As per Omdia, the global smartphone market is expected to decline further in 2027, driven by continued HBM and conventional memory shortages that will keep costs high.
Smartphone vendors will likely respond by cutting sales and marketing costs, improving operational efficiency, and expanding software, services, and post-sale revenue. Strong finances, lean inventories, and efficient operations will become increasingly important competitive advantages.