India’s smartphone shipments dropped 13% in the second quarter of 2026, driven by rising memory prices, inflation, and weakened consumer demand, signalling a challenging year ahead for vendors.
India’s smartphone market shrank sharply in the second quarter of 2026, with shipments falling 13% year on year to 33.9 million units, according to Omdia. The research firm said the slide was driven by rising memory costs, which forced handset makers to lift prices repeatedly and made devices less affordable for mass-market buyers. Delayed upgrades ahead of festival promotions, a weaker rupee, inflation and soft summer retail demand also dragged on sales, while vendors held back on replenishing channels as sell-through slowed and inventory costs rose.
Vivo kept the top spot with 6.3 million shipments, although it also posted a double-digit decline. Omdia said the brand leaned on a tighter entry-level line-up centred on the Y11 5G and Y21 5G, while broadening its premium offer with the V70 FE. Samsung came second with 5.9 million units and, in Omdia’s view, proved the most resilient of the leading brands. Its Galaxy A07 and Galaxy A17 supported volumes, while financing, exchange, buyback and loyalty schemes helped sustain demand for the flagship Galaxy S26 range. OPPO placed third with 4.6 million units, Xiaomi fourth with 4.5 million, and Apple completed the top five with 3.5 million shipments, helped by stronger inventory build-up for the base iPhone 17 and by promotions aimed at premium buyers.
The latest fall follows a broadly weak end to 2025, when Omdia said India’s smartphone market slipped 1% year on year in the fourth quarter to 34.5 million units and shipped 154.2 million units for the full year, also down 1%. That report described a market shaped by longer replacement cycles, tighter inventory control and cost-sensitive buying. Omdia’s broader global data for the same period pointed to a 6% decline in worldwide smartphone shipments to 272 million units, showing that India’s slowdown formed part of a wider industry correction rather than an isolated weakness.
Looking ahead, Omdia expects India’s smartphone market to fall by double digits over 2026 as inflation, rupee weakness and higher living costs continue to pressure discretionary spending. The firm also warned that elevated memory prices are likely to keep handset prices high through the rest of the year, with normalisation unlikely before the first half of 2027. It advised vendors to resist deeper discounting and instead protect demand through financing, trade-in programmes, cashback offers, value-added bundles and tighter inventory discipline, especially in partnership with large-format retailers and the general trade.
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