Samsung’s Galaxy S26 launch helped lift its smartphone business in Q2, allowing the company to outpace a weakening market and widen its lead over rivals, according to Omdia.
The broader global smartphone market fell four percent year on year in Q2 as higher memory costs and softer demand weighed on many vendors.
Samsung captured 22 percent market share in the quarter, up two percentage points from a year earlier, as the new Galaxy S26 series boosted premium sales and supported growth across its lineup. The launch timing was especially important because demand for the new flagship spilled into the quarter, giving Samsung a stronger sales mix than many competitors.
Apple, the other standout performer, posted its best-ever Q2 with 20 percent share.
Xiaomi, Oppo and vivo rounded out the top five, but the overall market remained under pressure from mass market segment declines.
“We anticipate the sharpest volume declines to hit in the upcoming two quarters, where normal seasonal demand peaks — driven by new launches, holidays and shopping festivals — collide with constrained memory chip supply,” said Runar Bjorhovde, Principal Analyst of Omdia, who believed that vendors are expected to lean further into the higher price segments to capitalise on customers seeking device upgrades in 2026’s sales season.
Entelechy Asia 