The Galaxy S26 family is evidently big in India. | Image by PhoneArena
Estimated at only 4 percent by Omdia and a whopping 11 percent by Counterpoint Research, the global decline in smartphone shipments registered between April and June 2026 compared to the same timeframe of last year clearly doesn't come from China.
Can you guess what top vendor improved its numbers even in this context?
Don't worry, I'm going to give you the answer. It's Samsung. Of course, we're not talking about a huge progress, but a small 2 percent gain in Indian Galaxy sales between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026 that was... almost enough to change the nation's number one vendor.
Vivo is down, Samsung is up, while Oppo, Xiaomi, and Realme are essentially stagnant... in market share. | Image by Counterpoint Research
Ultimately, Vivo did manage to edge out Samsung, but if the Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8 prove successful enough, the tiny 0.2 percent gap in market share could easily be cancelled at the end of the current quarter.
That 2 percent improvement in shipments, mind you, added more than 2 percent to Samsung's Q2 2025 market share, increasing the company's slice of the pie to 17.6 percent and widening the gap to bronze medalist Oppo.
Why do you think Samsung is so successful in markets like India?
In fourth place, Xiaomi (including Poco) essentially kept its 13 percent market share unchanged, while Realme grew slightly from 9.6 to 10 percent to consolidate its final position among India's top five smartphone vendors.
Wait, what about Apple?
Because India remains a fertile ground for affordable Android devices with respectable specs, iPhones are... not quite as popular here as in the US, Western Europe, or even China.
The iPhone 17 family is reportedly popular, but not popular enough in India. | Image by PhoneArena
Of course, Apple is not as irrelevant in India as Samsung is, for instance, in China, but Cupertino's 7 percent share in this market dominated by Vivo with a 17.8 percent slice of the pie is definitely not a result that will put a big smile on newly appointed CEO John Ternus' face.
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Curiously enough, iPhone 17 series demand in the region is described as "strong" and resilient, but Apple's overall Indian handset sales are still down 3 percent in Q2 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year.
And what about Nothing and Google?
The small British outfit founded by Carl Pei less than six years ago and the search giant that continues to struggle to be taken seriously in the global mobile hardware space are... obviously not among India's top five smartphone vendors as of June 2026.
But, believe it or not, Nothing's regional shipments are up 105 percent (!!!) from the April-June 2025 quarter, while Google's 68 percent year-on-year growth represents the largest improvement for an "ultra-premium" brand.
The unconventional Nothing Phone (4a) is one of India's biggest surprise hits so far this year. | Image by PhoneArena
Basically, it looks like Pixel handsets are growing at a much more impressive pace than iPhones in India all of a sudden (although that's not an entirely fair comparison), while Nothing devices are outpacing... all other companies in the region.
Those are some decidedly impressive and totally unexpected achievements for the two brands, although they were obviously made possible by Google and Nothing's relatively low sales numbers registered prior to this period.
What's on the horizon?
Unfortunately, nothing good. That's because the "persistent" increases in memory and "other component" costs that led to "multiple rounds" of price hikes for smartphones from virtually all major (and minor) brands during the first half of 2026 are unlikely to have ended.
That means another round or two of price hikes could be coming by the end of the year, so as bad as India's 10 percent decline in Q2 smartphone sales might sound, things are likely to get even worse soon.
Of course, this nightmare scenario must end at some point, but for the time being, it's probably wise not to expect that to happen before 2027.
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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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