The race for the top spot in global smartphone sales is less a competition and more a calendar exercise. Samsung launches its flagship Galaxy S series in the first quarter, takes the lead, then Apple releases new iPhones in the fall and typically reclaims it. Repeat annually.
Fresh data from Omdia shows Samsung held 22% of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2026, up 2 percentage points from the same period last year. Apple sat at 20%, also up from the previous year. Strong early demand for the Galaxy S26 series drove Samsung’s position, and the company will look to sustain momentum through its mid-range lineup and a new foldable slate expected in the second half of the year, including a wider Galaxy Z Fold model.
Apple, meanwhile, is not struggling. A 20% share is not a defeat. The iPhone maker reliably surges when its annual update cycle kicks in, and there is little reason to expect 2026 to be different.
What is worth paying closer attention to is the broader market context. Despite higher component costs and rising device prices, global smartphone shipments still grew 1% year-over-year in Q1. That resilience may not hold. Omdia is projecting roughly a 15% decline for the full year, partly because memory and storage cost increases have not yet fully worked their way into retail pricing. If vendors are forced to raise prices further, demand could soften noticeably.
The vendor rankings will shuffle again by year end. The more interesting question is whether the overall market shrinks around them.
