Samsung set to overtake Apple in 2026 smartphone market amid memory crunch: Counterpoint
Counterpoint Research predicts Samsung will reclaim the top position in the 2026 smartphone market, surpassing Apple, due to its robust supply chain and resilience to rising memory-chip prices. The broader smartphone market is expected to decline by 14.3% in 2026, with Chinese manufacturers facing the most significant shipment pressures.
Why it matters
This forecast indicates a significant shift in the competitive landscape of the global smartphone market, impacting major tech companies, their investors, and the broader electronics industry.
Leading Chinese smartphone manufacturers are expected to experience substantially greater shipment pressure
SAMSUNG Electronics will regain the top position in the smartphone market in 2026, in a sign of its greater resilience to higher memory-chip prices, market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research predicted.
The memory supply crunch has gotten worse over the course of this year and Counterpoint now expects a 14.3 per cent decline in global phone unit shipments for 2026, with Chinese manufacturers taking the brunt of it.
Samsung, with its highly integrated supply chain and mature distribution network, is an exception with an expected 0.8 per cent growth, putting it just ahead of Apple.
The broader market is set to decline again in 2027 before recovering in 2028, Counterpoint said.
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