Samsung Reclaims No. 1 Global Smartphone Spot From Apple Amid AI-Driven Memory Chip Shortage Crisis

Samsung Electronics has retaken the top spot in the global smartphone market, overtaking Apple in the second quarter of 2026, even as the industry as a whole recorded its weakest second-quarter performance in more than a decade amid an intensifying shortage of memory chips.

Samsung accounted for 24% of global smartphone shipments in the April-to-June period, according to a new report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, while Apple ranked second with a 20% share, a record figure for the company during that quarter despite slipping back to second place. The reversal comes just one quarter after Apple had briefly overtaken Samsung to claim the top spot, leading the market in the first quarter of 2026 with a 21% share, ahead of Samsung’s 20%, on the strength of record-breaking iPhone 17 sales.

Counterpoint attributed Samsung’s return to the top of the market to several converging factors: robust sales of its Galaxy S26 lineup, relatively modest price increases in key markets including India and the Middle East, and aggressive promotional campaigns during the quarter. The Galaxy S26 Ultra, released in March, emerged as what Counterpoint described as the “standout performer” driving the company’s overall shipment growth. Notably, Samsung avoided raising the price of its flagship Ultra model even as component costs climbed industrywide, a decision that appears to have helped sustain demand for its highest-end device.

Despite Samsung’s strong showing, the broader global smartphone market contracted sharply during the quarter. Global shipments fell 11% year over year, marking the weakest second-quarter performance since 2013, according to Counterpoint. The research firm pointed to a persistent and worsening shortage of DRAM and NAND memory chips as the primary driver behind the industrywide slowdown, with memory suppliers continuing to prioritize higher-margin artificial intelligence data center demand over consumer electronics production. That dynamic has pushed manufacturing costs sharply higher across the industry, forcing many smartphone makers to raise prices, particularly on budget and mid-range devices where profit margins were already thin.

Counterpoint Senior Analyst Shilpi Jain described the memory shortage as having evolved into the industry’s dominant challenge. “The global memory crisis has now overtaken every other factor as the single biggest drag on the smartphone industry. What started as a components issue last year is now a full-blown demand issue,” Jain said. She noted that entry-level and mid-tier devices, which together account for the majority of global smartphone shipment volume and are most exposed to rising bill-of-materials costs, have become structurally difficult to sustain at previous price points. “We see manufacturers responded in different ways, some are increasing prices and accepting margin pressure, while others are extending the lifecycle of older-generation models and using promotions to retain budget-conscious buyers, and a few are simply pulling back on launches and production,” Jain said.

Apple’s performance during the quarter reflected a notably different strategy than most of its rivals. According to Counterpoint, Apple was the only major smartphone manufacturer to avoid raising prices during the second quarter, even as it grew shipments 3% year over year and achieved its record 20% market share. The iPhone 17 remained Apple’s top-selling product line and was identified as the single top-shipped global smartphone model of the quarter, sustaining an extended stretch of year-over-year growth for the brand.

Even so, Apple faced its own challenges tied to the memory shortage. Counterpoint’s report noted that Apple’s legacy iPhone models “faced softer demand, as component allocation prioritized current-generation devices amid memory-related supply constraints,” suggesting the company redirected limited chip supply toward its newest devices at the expense of older models still on the market. Apple also continued to face relative softness in China, one of its most important international markets, with shipments there declining year over year despite an early promotional push tied to the country’s mid-year 618 shopping festival.

The memory shortage has created something of a structural advantage for Samsung relative to other smartphone makers, given that the company operates its own semiconductor manufacturing business alongside its mobile division. As one of the world’s leading memory chip producers, Samsung has more direct exposure to and potential benefit from the current memory supply dynamics than rivals who must purchase DRAM and NAND components entirely from third-party suppliers, though that advantage does not fully insulate its phone business from broader industry cost pressures.

Rounding out the top five global smartphone brands for the quarter were Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo, with market shares of 12%, 11% and 8%, respectively. Compared with the same period last year, Samsung gained roughly four percentage points of market share while Apple gained about three points, according to Counterpoint’s year-over-year comparison, while Xiaomi lost about two points and OPPO lost roughly one point, with vivo posting a modest one-point gain.

Looking ahead, Counterpoint said it expects the broader industry downturn to continue through the remainder of 2026, forecasting a roughly 14% decline in full-year global smartphone shipments, with the memory chip shortage likely to persist well into 2027. Separate research from analytics firm Omdia has struck a similarly cautious tone, projecting that memory prices are unlikely to begin declining before the second half of 2027, and cautioning they may never fully return to pre-2025 levels. Memory and storage components now account for more than 60% of total production costs on some budget smartphones and more than 30% on premium devices, according to Omdia’s analysis, a dynamic expected to weigh most heavily on phones priced below $400 as shortages continue affecting major product launches and seasonal shopping periods later in the year.

Samsung had already raised prices modestly on its Galaxy S26 lineup in February, and industry speculation has continued to circulate that the company could implement further mobile price increases in the near future, even as it avoided doing so on its top-performing Ultra model this past quarter. Samsung is expected to unveil its next generation of foldable smartphones at an event scheduled for July 22 in London, a launch that will offer an early indicator of how the company plans to navigate pricing amid the ongoing memory constraints. Apple, meanwhile, is not expected to release its next major iPhone lineup, the iPhone 18 series, until September, a launch widely seen as pivotal in determining whether the company can sustain its current momentum or whether Samsung’s renewed lead will prove more durable heading into the back half of the year.