IDC’s preliminary Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker says global smartphone shipments fell 4.1% year over year in the first quarter of 2026, dropping to 289.7 million units. That snapped a run of ten straight quarters of growth that had been in place since mid-2023.
IDC expects the softer first quarter to be an early sign of a more restrained year overall. The firm says storage-related supply tightness and higher component pricing are likely to keep weighing on the market as 2026 continues.
What stands out is that Samsung and Apple were the only two brands in the global top five to post year-over-year gains. IDC says both companies benefited from their heavier focus on the premium segment and from stronger bargaining power with memory suppliers, which helped them handle the ongoing cost pressure better than many rivals.
Samsung moved back into the top spot in Q1, helped by strong demand for the new Galaxy S26 Ultra. Even with a later launch window, shipments for that model reportedly still grew 3.6% year over year. IDC also says the earlier release of Samsung’s midrange A series helped fill part of the gap created by the delayed S26 lineup.
Apple ranked second, with the Q1 2026 smartphone market showing particularly strong momentum for the iPhone 17 family. IDC says Apple’s smartphone shipments rose 3.3% globally, including growth of more than 30% in China. Even so, the company still faced limits from supply disruptions and weaker channel support in some major markets.
Among Chinese vendors, the picture was mixed. Xiaomi remained in third place even though IDC says it posted the biggest decline among the top five, partly because it strategically reduced shipments of older models instead of pushing through steep price increases. OPPO placed fourth, while vivo came in fifth, supported by stronger performance in China and India.
Outside the top five, brands including Honor, Lenovo-owned Motorola, and Huawei also posted gains. IDC says Honor delivered the fastest growth rate among the top ten vendors at 24%, helped largely by its push into overseas markets.
In China, quarterly smartphone shipments reached about 69.01 million units, down 3.3% year over year. Even so, the market still got a notable lift from Samsung smartphone growth at the high end globally and especially from Apple smartphone growth and Huawei’s momentum inside China, according to the IDC report.
