No brand is going up but Samsung came incredibly close
You probably don't remember this now (how could you?), but India's Q3 smartphone sales total was up last year by 4.3 percent compared to the same period of 2024, marking a five-year high for the region.
Everyone is going down, but there's obviously a big difference between a 1 percent and a 34 percent decline. | Image by Omdia
I'm only telling you that to understand how big of a difference 12 months can make in today's volatile mobile industry, as Q3 smartphone shipments are now down to their lowest level since 2016 in the world's most populous nation. As insane as something like this would have sounded a year or two ago, India's decline stands at 26 percent (!!!) compared to Q3 2025, which obviously makes Samsung's microscopic 1 percent local sales reduction feel like a major victory.
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In fact, Samsung is now India's top vendor, closely followed by Vivo, which was the regional leader both this time last year and in Q2 2026. As you can imagine, this is a country where low-end devices like the Galaxy A07, A17, and A27 are highlighted as the brand's strongest performers, although the Galaxy S26 series (FE model included), Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8 likely proved pretty popular as well, "broadening" the company's "higher-value portfolio" and undoubtedly boosting its profit scores.
How bad was Apple's decline?
Not that bad if you compare it to the year-on-year evolutions of Vivo, Oppo, Xiaomi, and the "others" group, but for the Cupertino-based tech giant, a 20 percent drop in such a crucial market is clearly pretty bad.
Apple was India's number five vendor before, and it's still in the same position. | Image by Omdia
Apple, mind you, was India's only top five player that managed to improve its sales figures in Q2 2026, which kind of makes this latest result sting even more. Then again, the company's market share is actually slightly bigger now than it was at the end of last year's third quarter, and the same goes for bronze medalist Oppo.
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That's obviously because Xiaomi, Vivo, and the "other" vendors all registered larger falls from the impressive heights of Q3 2025, and all for pretty much the exact same reason.
The rising prices are definitely the big problem
Yes, everything is getting more and more expensive, which is primarily impacting China-based brands like Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi. Unfortunately, the effects of the industry-wide component cost increases are expected to be felt in markets like India through the end of this year and even in 2027, although next year's decline should at least look a lot better than the numbers we're talking about today.
India's smartphone market is expected to continue shrinking over the next few quarters. | Image by Omdia
If Omdia's latest predictions prove accurate, regional smartphone sales will fall by a "further low-single-digit" percentage in 2027, which... is clearly not good, but it's not terrible either.
One of the top brands that's in danger of seeing its numbers shrink by a lot more than its rivals over the next couple of quarters or so is actually Apple, as India is definitely a market where the "vanilla" iPhone 18 will be dearly missed until it finally comes out in the spring. For what it's worth, the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max are said to have "gained momentum" towards the end of Q3, but the prices of the two non-foldable Apple A20 Pro powerhouses makes them a tough pill to swallow for the Indian masses.
Here are more news stories about the world's top smartphone vendors and most popular devices:
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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