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IDC: Apple closes in on Samsung as global smartphone shipments see record decline in Q3
In a report published today, IDC says Apple saw a 4% year-over-year decline in global iPhone shipments during Q3 2026, but its share of worldwide smartphone shipments increased 23.1% over the same period last year. Here’s why.
IDC says its preliminary data on global smartphone shipments for Q3 2026 show a 22% drop compared to Q3 2025, which is in line with other regional and global trends reported recently.
The culprit, as even occasional 9to5Mac readers are likely well aware by now, is the ongoing memory shortage, which has sent component costs soaring and squeezed device manufacturers, particularly those competing in lower-end markets.
According to IDC, Samsung remained atop the ranking with 57.8 million units shipped and a 22.6% share, down 5.8% from the year-ago period. Apple came in second with 57.3 million shipped units, followed by Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo.
The report shows OPPO seeing the biggest drop among the top five, with shipments down 34.5% year over year, and Apple recording the smallest decline at 4%. This left Apple just 500,000 units behind Samsung, with a gap of only 0.2 percentage points in shipment share.
Commenting on these numbers, Nabila Popal, IDC’s senior research director for Worldwide Devices, said things might get worse before they get better:
“The sharp downturn the industry has been bracing for finally materialized in the third quarter this year, with shipments declining a record 22% YoY. However, the worst is yet to come. […] Current indicators suggest that the market has not yet reached the bottom. Memory costs have surged approximately 350% since last year and are still rising, creating substantial pressure on vendor margins and shipments. While memory inflation is beginning to slow down, with a low double-digit sequential increase in Q3 compared to roughly 50%-100% sequential growth in prior quarters, costs remain elevated across other critical components as well, compounding the crunch.”
Today’s report came just two days after IDC released preliminary results for the Chinese smartphone market, where Apple’s share of shipments increased from 15.8% to 17.8%, despite a 4.3% year-over-year decline in iPhone shipments.
To read IDC’s full report on global smartphone shipments for Q3 2026, follow this link.
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