Smartphone market shrinks, Apple and Samsung gain ground
Manufacturers of cheaper devices are bearing the brunt of a memory-chip shortage.
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The global smartphone market shrank by 20 per cent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier. According to Counterpoint Research, quarterly volumes were therefore the lowest for a third quarter since 2012.
Counterpoint bases its preliminary estimate on global smartphone shipments. According to the research firm, Samsung held 23 per cent of the market, while Apple reached 22 per cent. Both brands saw their share grow, even though the market as a whole contracted.
Counterpoint cites a shortage of memory chips as the main explanation. This is putting pressure on the availability of components and forcing manufacturers to make choices about production and their product ranges. The figures are preliminary market analyses, not official government statistics.
A second data series shows the same pattern, but concerns a different quarter and a smaller decline. IDC reported a 7.4 per cent fall in the second quarter, to 276.3 million devices shipped. Samsung had a 22.7 per cent market share and Apple 20.2 per cent.
The differences between the two studies do not automatically constitute a contradiction. Counterpoint is looking here at the third quarter and published a preliminary estimate; IDC reports on the second quarter using definitive historical figures. Research firms also use their own definitions and measurement methods.
IDC says memory costs have risen sharply and that manufacturers of cheap devices in particular are therefore vulnerable. According to the firm, Apple and Samsung have more room for manoeuvre because they sell relatively many more expensive models and may have secured components earlier. This is an analysis by IDC, not an independently established explanation for the situation at each individual brand.
For consumers, the development could mean that cheap devices become scarcer or more expensive, but the precise consequences for each manufacturer and country remain uncertain. The current figures mainly show that the market is splitting: large premium brands are holding up better, while smaller and cheaper suppliers are experiencing greater pressure.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The figures were checked against two market analyses by research firms. The text explicitly distinguishes between preliminary and definitive figures and between the different quarters.
- confirmed The global smartphone market shrank by 20 per cent year on year in the third quarter. — Preliminary estimate by Counterpoint Research. source
- confirmed The third quarter was the lowest third quarter since 2012. — Mentioned by Counterpoint Research. source
- confirmed According to IDC, Samsung had a 22.7 per cent market share and Apple 20.2 per cent in the second quarter. — IDC table for the second quarter of 2026. source
- confirmed IDC reported a 7.4 per cent decline in the second quarter, to 276.3 million devices. — IDC reports these definitive historical figures. source
Editor's note
Counterpoint's third-quarter figures are preliminary; the IDC figures concern the second quarter and use a different methodology. The market shares and the memory-chip explanation are therefore consistently attributed to the relevant research firm.Sources
- Global Smartphone Shipments Hit a New Low with 20% YoY Decline — Counterpoint Research
- Smartphone Market Share — IDC
More on this in Dutch media
- De Telegraaf — „smartphones apple”
- de Volkskrant — „smartphones apple”
- NOS — „smartphones apple”