Global smartphone shipments fell 20% year-on-year to 254.7 million units in Q3, the lowest volume for the period in more than a decade, Omdia reported.

Omdia noted rising device costs and component shortages continued to weaken consumer demand in emerging markets. Distributors and retailers also remained cautious about restocking as higher device costs raised working capital needs and limited inventories.

Principal analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said regions which once drove shipment growth faced the greatest pressure on affordability.

Shipments in Africa fell 39%, the largest regional decline, forcing vendors to prioritise margins over volumes.

Samsung remained the largest vendor, shipping 57.8 million smartphones globally, though this was 5% less than in Q3 2025.

Its entry-level Galaxy A series and the Z8 foldable range are credited as contributing to Samsung’s performance.

Apple’s shipments were flat at 56.5 million units: Omdia noted the vendor’s iPhone 18 launch schedule effectively extended the run of its previous model, which it stated continued to ship well in North America and China.

Chinese vendors experienced larger declines.

Xiaomi’s shipments fell 29% to 30.7 million units as it adjusted prices in China and India.

Oppo and Vivo’s shipments dropped 39% and 33%, respectively as they raised prices to cover higher component costs.

Omdia forecast full-year shipments would decrease by around 12%, while persistent shortages of high-bandwidth and conventional memory could keep hardware costs high well into 2027.

The data is broadly in line with IDC figures showing shipments dropped 22% to 255.3 million.

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