According to data from IDC, global smartphone sales hit 255.3 million units in the third quarter of 2026, marking a steep 22% drop. This represents the most significant downturn recorded by IDC and the first such decline in over ten years.

Amid this global slump, no market has been spared. China’s market, for example, also saw a notable decrease of approximately 15.4% this quarter, a considerable decline.

The Indian market fared even worse, experiencing a 26% drop and setting a record for the poorest performance in over a decade.

Data indicates that in the third quarter of 2026, smartphone shipments in India reached only about 35.8 million units, down 26% year-on-year. Despite the third quarter traditionally being a peak sales period, sales remained sluggish.

Additionally, this was the fourth consecutive quarter of decline in India, with year-on-year drops of 7%, 5%, 13%, and 26% in each of the previous four quarters.

Regarding brand rankings, Samsung surpassed VIVO to take the top spot, while VIVO experienced the most significant decline, dropping from first to second place with a noticeable reduction in market share.

Samsung, on the other hand, saw growth and reclaimed the top position in India for the first time in over a year, after previously holding the second spot.

OPPO, Xiaomi, and Apple completed the rankings in third, fourth, and fifth place, respectively, with a relatively narrow gap between OPPO and Xiaomi.

The sharp decline in India’s market can be traced to factors unique to the Indian market. The main driver behind the global smartphone sales downturn in 2026 was the substantial price increase of memory chips.

Prices for both NAND flash and DDR memory soared four to five times compared to the previous year. Memory chips are a fixed cost component in smartphones, representing a larger share of costs in low-end models.

For example, in smartphones priced below 1,000 yuan, memory chips previously accounted for 15-20% of the cost, roughly 150-200 yuan. With prices now quadrupled or quintupled, the cost has risen to 600 or even 700 yuan, an increase of about 500 yuan. As a result, a smartphone previously priced at 1,000 yuan can no longer be sold at that price without incurring losses; it would now need to be priced at least 1,500 yuan to break even.

However, would consumers still buy a smartphone previously priced at 1,000 yuan if it now costs 1,500 yuan? This predicament particularly affects low-end models, which are becoming increasingly difficult to sell. In contrast, high-end smartphones, where memory chips represent a smaller share of costs, have not been as severely impacted.

Given that India’s market is dominated by low-end smartphones, it has been hit the hardest. Brands like Samsung and Apple, which have a larger proportion of high-end models, have seen their market shares in India grow. Conversely, VIVO, OPPO, and Xiaomi, which primarily focus on low-end models in India, have suffered significantly.

With memory chip prices expected to keep rising, smartphone manufacturers must now prioritize supply chain management capabilities and the appeal of high-end smartphones. The era of Chinese brands relying on low-priced, high-volume sales in India has come to a close.