Global Smartphone Shipments Hit Their Lowest Q2 in 13 Years
Samsung reclaimed the top spot and Apple grew, but the overall market shrank as a memory chip shortage squeezed every phone maker at once.
Global smartphone shipments fell 11% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, hitting the lowest Q2 volume since 2013, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung reclaimed the top global spot with 24% market share, edging out Apple at 20%. Xiaomi held third with 12%, followed by OPPO at 11% and vivo at 8%.
What's actually driving the drop
This isn't primarily a demand story. It's a supply-cost story. Counterpoint points to a deepening memory shortage as the main drag on the industry: DRAM and NAND prices climbed sharply through 2026, and phone makers had to pass at least some of that cost onto buyers. Higher prices hit mid-range and budget phones hardest, since margins there are already thin, and that's exactly where Chinese brands make most of their volume.
Xiaomi felt it the most. Its shipments fell 26.3% year over year, the steepest drop of any major vendor, and OPPO and vivo each posted double-digit declines too. When your business model runs on shipping huge volumes of affordably priced phones, a memory price spike hits the model directly, not just the margins.
Samsung and Apple, the exceptions
Samsung and Apple were the only two of the top five brands to actually grow. Apple's shipments rose 3% year over year, helped by a strong iPhone cycle, and Counterpoint notes Samsung grew even faster, enough to knock Apple out of the top spot. Both companies sell enough volume at premium price points that a few dollars more in component cost barely dents demand. Their buyers are less price-sensitive to begin with, and that's precisely what separated winners from losers in a shrinking market this quarter.
The verdict
A shrinking market with exactly two brands growing is a pretty clean signal: pricing power matters more than usual right now. Samsung and Apple can absorb higher component costs without losing many buyers. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo can't, not without hurting the volume their whole business depends on. Expect this gap to widen before it closes. If DRAM and NAND prices ease in 2027, that's the number to watch, since it's the actual root cause here, not a sudden drop in demand for phones.