IDC: Top 5 Global Smartphone Brands in Early 2026, Samsung Leads

Research firm IDC has released its latest report on global smartphone shipments for the first quarter of 2026 (January to March).

According to the report, Samsung leads the global mobile phone market with a 21.7% market share.

This figure is higher than the 20.1% in Q1 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, the South Korean company shipped around 62.8 million smartphone units.

IDC states that Samsung’s positive performance during this period was supported by strong demand for the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

Additionally, the earlier launch of the Galaxy A series is also considered to have helped fill the gap from the later release of the Galaxy S26 compared to previous models.

Apple ranks second with a total of 61.1 million units shipped and a 19.6% market share.

Apple’s shipment growth reached 3.3%, driven by strong performance from the iPhone 17 series, particularly in China.

Samsung and Apple were also the two largest vendors to record positive growth. Meanwhile, the other three vendors posted negative growth.

Xiaomi, for example, which ranks third, only shipped 33.8 million units, down 19.1% from 41.8 million in Q1 2025.

According to IDC, Xiaomi cut shipments of older phone models to avoid price increases, which affected its growth.

Oppo’s shipment growth also declined by 9.9% to 30.7 million units from 34.1 million units in Q1 2025.

IDC notes that this smartphone vendor had positive performance in China, which helped prevent a sharper global growth decline. Oppo’s growth in China was also due to the company’s integration with Realme.

Vivo’s growth was also driven by positive performance in China, its largest market, as well as stable performance in India. Details of the top five global smartphone vendors for Q1 2026 can be seen in the following table.

Outside the top five, vendors such as Honor, Lenovo (Motorola), and Huawei were also reported by IDC to have posted positive growth.

Honor became the vendor with the highest growth among the top 10, at 24% year-over-year, due to a shift in focus to overseas expansion.

In the same report, IDC also stated that the global mobile phone market in Q1 2026 fell by 4.1% compared to the same period last year.

During that period, around 289.7 million devices were shipped. This number is down from Q1 2025’s volume of 302 million units.

IDC identifies the memory crisis and rising smartphone prices as the main factors behind the sluggish mobile phone market in early 2026.

IDC Senior Research Director Nabila Popal explained that the memory crisis directly impacts phone shipments and demand.

“Limited memory availability forced shipment cuts, while much higher memory prices drove up raw material costs and prompted price increases by many leading brands,” said Popal.

“In some developing markets, prices rose by 40-50%, significantly impacting demand in price-sensitive regions,” she added, quoted from IDC’s official website.

The conditions described by Popal have already occurred in Indonesia. In the country, almost all smartphone vendors have raised prices. The price increases do not apply to all models.

Nevertheless, every segment, from entry-level to mid-range and flagship, has seen some increases.

“This year represents a critical turning point for vendors to innovate due to rising component, energy, and logistics costs from the war in the Middle East,” said Popal.

IDC states that the 4% market growth decline in Q1 2026 indicates initial signs of greater pressures ahead.

IDC Mobile Phones Research Director Anthony Scarsella highlighted that rising memory prices are the main factor worsening market conditions.

Developed markets like the United States are considered more resilient to this impact because they are dominated by premium devices. Additionally, programmes like trade-ins and financing schemes help maintain consumer purchasing power.

In contrast, developing markets that rely on cheap devices under $200 (around Rp 3.4 million) will face greater pressure due to limited options from rising production costs.

Although device shipment prospects look negative, the smartphone industry is moving towards higher average selling prices (ASP).

This is driven by increasing component costs and vendors’ strategies focusing on higher-value product portfolios.

This means the future smartphone market landscape will increasingly be dominated by higher-priced devices, while the entry-level segment could become even more marginalised.