India’s smartphone shipments plunged 26% in the third quarter of 2026, while Samsung returned to market leadership as rising prices weakened demand for budget devices.
India’s smartphone market shrank sharply in the third quarter of 2026, with shipments falling 26% year on year to 35.8 million units, according to Omdia. The research firm said the quarter, which covers July to September, was the weakest Q3 since 2016, even though it coincided with the start of the festive buying season. Omdia attributed the slump to higher handset prices and restrained consumer spending, with premiumisation failing to offset weakness in the mass market.
Samsung moved back into first place for the first time since the first quarter of 2024, shipping 6.7 million units and taking about 19% of the market, Omdia said. Its strongest models included the Galaxy A07, Galaxy A17 and Galaxy A27, while the Galaxy S26 family, the latest foldables and the Galaxy S26 FE also helped support volumes. The shift marks a notable recovery for Samsung in a quarter when many rivals struggled to maintain channel momentum.
Vivo fell to second place with 6.4 million units, down 34% from a year earlier, the steepest decline among the five largest vendors. Omdia said repeated price increases disrupted inventory planning and that tighter availability in the entry-level segment weakened its competitive position. Oppo ranked third with 4.9 million units, while Xiaomi slipped to fourth with 4.7 million, as rising component costs eroded its traditional value proposition. In both cases, demand held up better in higher-priced devices than in the core budget segment, but not enough to prevent broad declines.
Apple finished fifth with 3.9 million units, supported by stocking ahead of expected price rises and steady demand for the base iPhone 17 and iPhone 16 models. Omdia also said the late-quarter launch of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max gained traction through bank cashback offers, exchange bonuses and no-cost EMI schemes. Overall, the combined market share of Chinese brands fell to about 68% from 75% a year earlier, as Samsung and Apple strengthened their positions. Looking ahead, Omdia expects India’s smartphone market to decline by a further low-single-digit percentage in 2027, with pricing pressure likely to persist into at least the first half of the year. The firm also said nearly four in ten consumers in India believe useful AI features could justify paying more for a smartphone, a sign that vendors are likely to lean harder on artificial intelligence in future product launches.
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