Last updated: April 10th, 2026 at 18:34 UTC+02:00
SamMobile has affiliate and sponsored partnerships, we may earn a commission.
Delayed Galaxy S26 launch and weak performance in the entry-level segments are the culprits.
Reading time: 1 minutes
Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile
Samsung, after leading the global smartphone market in terms of shipments from Q1 2025 through Q3 2025, lost the top spot to Apple in Q4 2025. Unfortunately for the South Korean tech giant, it has not been able to reclaim that position in Q1 2026.
Counterpoint Research has published its analysis of global smartphone shipments for Q1 2026. According to the firm, Apple led the market with a 21% share, while Samsung ranked second with a 20% market share. You can check it out below.
Counterpoint Research
Counterpoint Research's analysis on the global smartphone market in Q1 2026 – Source: Counterpoint Research
Compared to Q4 2025, the gap between Apple and Samsung has narrowed significantly. However, Samsung’s smartphone shipments declined 6% year-over-year (Q1 2025 vs. Q1 2026). Counterpoint Research says this was due to the delayed launch of the Galaxy S26 series and the brand’s weak performance in the entry-level segment.
In third, fourth, and fifth place were Mi, Oppo, and Vivo, with market shares of 13%, 11%, and 8%, respectively. With the Galaxy S26 series already setting sales records, Samsung’s performance in the global mobile market could improve in Q2 2026. However, the brand increasing the prices of its phones could negatively impact shipments.
I’m a computer science engineer living in Hyderabad, India, who has a keen interest in automobiles and consumer electronics. My journalism career kicked off in 2017 with MySmartPrice where I wrote news, features, buying guides, and explanatory articles about technology among other things, and reviewed many products, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, PC components, smartwatches, audio devices, wearables, and smart home products. Since then, I have worked for 91Mobiles, Apple, and Onsitego, before finally landing on SamMobile.
