Last updated: April 29th, 2026 at 10:35 UTC+02:00
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Samsung's market share improved even as the overall market dropped in Q1 2026 year-on-year.
Reading time: 2 minutes
Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile
Samsung brought Exynos chips back to the Galaxy S series with the launch of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+ this year. And it appears those phones helped the company gain market share in the smartphone chipset segment. Samsung’s share improved, while MediaTek’s and Qualcomm’s declined.
According to the latest numbers from Counterpoint Research, Samsung’s market share in the smartphone chipset segment increased from 5 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2025 to 7 percent in Q1 2026.
Since the Galaxy A37 and Galaxy A57 launched in March, this increase in Exynos market share is likely driven largely by the strong performance of the Galaxy S26 and Galaxy S26+, which use the Exynos 2600 chip in most markets worldwide.
Counterpoint Research
Exynos market share in Q1 2026 – Source: Counterpoint Research
In comparison, MediaTek’s market share fell from 38 percent to 33 percent. Qualcomm’s share also declined, dropping from 27 percent in Q1 2025 to 24 percent in Q1 2026.
Apple’s A-series chips, meanwhile, grew their share from 15 percent to 19 percent, while low-end chipmaker Unisoc increased its share from 10 percent to 13 percent.
The overall smartphone market declined 8 percent year-over-year, which makes the gains by Apple and Samsung even more impressive.
As Samsung pushes to use Exynos chips in more phones going forward, the company’s chipset market share could continue rising.
Asif is a computer engineer turned technology journalist. He has been using Samsung phones since 2004, and his current smartphone is the Galaxy S23 Ultra. He loves headphones, mechanical keyboards, and PC hardware. When not writing about technology, he likes watching crime and science fiction movies and TV shows.
