Global smartphone shipments hit 13-year low — memory shortage crushed mid/low end, but Apple hit record 20% share
TL;DR
Q2 2026 global smartphone shipments fell 11% YoY to a 13-year low. Memory shortage crushed mid/low-end demand; Apple rose 3% to a record 20%, Samsung retook #1 at 24%.
Global smartphone shipments fell 11% year-over-year in Q2 2026 — the lowest same-quarter reading since 2013. Counterpoint Research's preliminary estimate says ongoing memory-chip shortages pushed handset prices up, hitting entry and mid-tier demand hardest.
The top five vendors diverged completely. Apple grew 3% against the tide, hitting a record 20% global share for the quarter — high-end iPhone demand stayed steady with no price hike, so budget squeezed out of mid-tier went straight to the flagship. Samsung reclaimed #1 at 24% on strong Galaxy S26 series performance — same high-end pull. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo saw the largest drops among the top five — each has 80%+ share in the sub-¥6,000 segment, exactly the tier where memory inflation left no pricing room.
The memory chain runs like this: AI-server demand ate up all HBM capacity, squeezing Samsung and SK Hynix's DDR5 and LPDDR5X output. PC and phone makers pay more per chip. Handset OEMs can't absorb infinite cost — they raise price or cut specs. Raise price on mid/low tier and you die; cut specs and you have no story. Both roads are blocked.
Counterpoint maintains its full-year forecast of a ~14% decline and expects the memory shortage to persist into 2027. That means mid/low-tier OEMs stay pinned between HBM and AI-hyperscaler demand through 2027, with pushing upmarket as the only escape route.
Win the bet, and Xiaomi 15 Pro, OPPO Find X8, and vivo X200 crack the high-end for the Chinese brands and rebound in 2027. Lose it, and this becomes a rerun of 2013: Samsung and Apple as the duopoly, Chinese brands fighting each other for the shrinking mid/low-tier pool.
via Reuters
The top five vendors diverged completely. Apple grew 3% against the tide, hitting a record 20% global share for the quarter — high-end iPhone demand stayed steady with no price hike, so budget squeezed out of mid-tier went straight to the flagship. Samsung reclaimed #1 at 24% on strong Galaxy S26 series performance — same high-end pull. Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo saw the largest drops among the top five — each has 80%+ share in the sub-¥6,000 segment, exactly the tier where memory inflation left no pricing room.
The memory chain runs like this: AI-server demand ate up all HBM capacity, squeezing Samsung and SK Hynix's DDR5 and LPDDR5X output. PC and phone makers pay more per chip. Handset OEMs can't absorb infinite cost — they raise price or cut specs. Raise price on mid/low tier and you die; cut specs and you have no story. Both roads are blocked.
Counterpoint maintains its full-year forecast of a ~14% decline and expects the memory shortage to persist into 2027. That means mid/low-tier OEMs stay pinned between HBM and AI-hyperscaler demand through 2027, with pushing upmarket as the only escape route.
Win the bet, and Xiaomi 15 Pro, OPPO Find X8, and vivo X200 crack the high-end for the Chinese brands and rebound in 2027. Lose it, and this becomes a rerun of 2013: Samsung and Apple as the duopoly, Chinese brands fighting each other for the shrinking mid/low-tier pool.
via Reuters
