IDC has launched their quarterly cell phone tracker they usually report Samsung has retained their high spot with regard to smartphone shipments.
Samsung had a 3.6% YoY improve in shipments in comparison with final yr. IDC attributes this to sturdy demand for the brand new Galaxy S26 Extremely and the sooner launch of the mid-range A collection Galaxy gadgets which helped fill quantity gaps.
On second place is Apple, which was additionally the second model that registered 3.3% YoY improve in gross sales. Their efficiency was because of the sturdy efficiency of the 17 collection which grew over 30% in China.
For the third, fourth and fifth place, these had been set by Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo. Xiaomi maintained its place however had the steepest decline among the many 5 OEMs. OPPO had a stronger efficiency in China than in worldwide markets. vivo closed its hole with its sibling OPPO because of its efficiency within the China market and in India.
Company1Q26 Shipments1Q26 Market Share1Q25 Shipments1Q25 Market ShareYear-Over-12 months Change
1. Samsung62.821.7percent60.620.1percent3.6%
2. Apple61.121.1percent59.119.6percent3.3%
3. Xiaomi33.811.7percent41.813.8%-19.1%
4. OPPO30.710.6percent34.111.3%-9.9%
5. vivo21.27.3percent22.77.5%-6.8%
Others80.127.6percent83.627.7%-4.2%
Total289.7100.0percent302.0100.0%-4.1%
Typically, world smartphone shipments decreased 4.1% YoY to 289.7 million items in Q1 2026. IDC sees as a precursor to what lies forward for 2026 because of the provide constrains round reminiscence because of AI.
Attention-grabbing sufficient, IDC gave an outlook of rising markets the place sub $200 are offered.
“Nevertheless, rising markets that target sub-$200 gadgets will supply shoppers only a few choices because the rising value of reminiscence parts will symbolize a bigger problem than what the pandemic delivered over 5 years in the past,” IDC says within the report
“Because the smartphone market shifts in direction of increased worth factors to offset rising invoice of supplies (BOM) prices, all distributors proceed to face intense strain, particularly those with increased publicity to low-end gadgets,” they added.
It will likely be fascinating to see how the market festivals in Q2 2026 because of the rising constraints of reminiscence on the smartphone market. In Africa, this may increasingly change into a possible drawback and we now have to see how the producers will navigate that.
