It won't surprise you which smartphone brands avoided falling shipments

The post It won't surprise you which smartphone brands avoided falling shipments appeared first on Android Headlines .

The smartphone market isn’t in a downward spiral but it is falling bit by bit, it seems, as the global figures for Q2 2026 show that manufacturers aren’t shipping as many units as they did at the same time last year. A new report from Omdia showcases global trends of shipments across several major smartphone manufacturers are down, though not across all brands. Like much of the consumer electronics industry, smartphones have taken a hit as a direct result of the memory crisis.

The higher cost of components has caused many manufacturers to increase the price for consumers. This has led to fewer consumers buying new phones, whether those would have been purchases for brand-new lines or simply upgrades. With people being required to spend more money than ever on a brand-new phone, drops in unit shipments was a somewhat foreseeable outcome.

Again, though, this isn’t across all brands, with two in particular increasing shipments over the same period in 2025. The global smartphone market for Q2 2026 is down 4% over Q2 2025, but not for Samsung or Apple As a whole, the global smartphone market has fallen in shipments by a total of 4%. Rising memory costs have increased the bill of materials for manufacturers.

Omdia notes that many brands saw a decrease. Xiaomi, for example, was the third largest in smartphone shipments globally for Q2 2026. However, its shipments fell from 15% in Q2 2025 to just 11% in Q2 2026.

Samsung, meanwhile, saw a shipment increase from 20% to 22%. Apple saw an increase as well, going up from 16% to 20%. Other top brands like Oppo and Vivo saw a decrease to 10% and 8%, respectively.

The remaining smartphone brands are all lumped into the “others” category, which stayed the same at 29%. However, it’s important to note that shipments likely fell individually for some of the brands that are placed in this category. The Android Headlines Take A decrease in smartphone shipments this year, especially in Q2 after several months of price increases on some of the most important components that make up a smartphone, was an inevitable change in the market.

We’re at a time where it’s not just consumer electronics that cost more money. With everything getting more expensive, many consumers are prioritizing what is more important. New smartphones, for many, likely aren’t topping the list.

And that makes sense. Smartphones are easier to keep for longer periods of time these days. Some brands, like Google, Apple, and Samsung, are committing to longer software update cycles.

So, it’s less necessary to upgrade to new hardware. With that in mind, the best decision for most consumers it probably to just sit tight and keep what you have. Unless it’s broken or several years old, or it doesn’t offer something you now need, the smart play here is to save money and stick with what you have.

The post It won't surprise you which smartphone brands avoided falling shipments appeared first on Android Headlines .