How Samsung Stayed Number One While the Phone Market Crashed

Samsung shipped fewer phones in Q3 2026 than it did a year ago, and it still finished the quarter as the world's biggest smartphone brand. Its shipments fell 3%, but its market share rose four percentage points to 23%, according to Counterpoint Research.

The reason is simple arithmetic. The global market fell 20% in the quarter. A 3% dip looks like a win when the field is collapsing around you, and Samsung's closest rivals in volume fell far harder. Xiaomi was down more than 30%, while OPPO and vivo were each down over 20%.

Price hikes that actually worked

Samsung did not dodge the memory crisis. It raised prices like everyone else, but the difference is in what happened next. Counterpoint says Samsung focused on growing sales value through price increases and posted strong revenue growth despite the drop in units.

Indian buyers have seen this directly. Samsung has raised prices on several models this year, some more than once. For most brands, repeated hikes in a falling market would mean lost customers. Samsung's global shipments slipped only 3%.

Foldables did the heavy lifting

The Galaxy Z Fold8 series, which went on sale on August 7, landed right in the middle of the quarter. Counterpoint says demand for high-priced devices, foldables in particular, was a major contributor to Samsung's sales growth.

Foldables make sense in a market like this one. They are expensive, so memory costs are a smaller share of their price, and their buyers are less likely to walk away over a few thousand rupees. In India, Counterpoint expects Samsung to take nearly 89% of foldable shipments in 2026, with the average foldable selling for around $1,800. That is close to five times the average price of a smartphone in India.

The Galaxy A series kept the volume going

Premium phones explain the revenue. The volume came from the other end. Counterpoint says steady component supply helped Samsung keep shipping its mid-range Galaxy A series in emerging markets during the quarter.

Counterpoint does not spell out why Samsung's supply held up when others struggled. It is worth remembering that Samsung's own semiconductor business is one of the world's largest makers of DRAM and NAND, the two chips at the heart of this shortage.

The Galaxy A lineup has been Samsung's anchor all year. In Q2, the Galaxy A07 4G, A17 5G and A17 4G all made the global top 10 best-sellers, alongside the Galaxy S26 Ultra and S26. Counterpoint also pointed out that these Galaxy A phones get at least six years of software updates, which matters more now that people are keeping their phones longer.

India has been Samsung's bright spot

In India, Samsung was the only brand to grow both year on year and quarter on quarter in Q2 2026, taking a 17.6% share and second place behind vivo. Counterpoint credited healthy demand for the Galaxy A and S series and aggressive offers on models like the Galaxy A17, A57 and S26.

At the global level, Samsung also benefited from making fewer price increases in India and the Middle East in Q2, which helped it reclaim the top spot from Apple that quarter.

A rough start to the year turned around

This recovery came after a weak Q1. Samsung's shipments fell 6% in the first quarter, hit by a delayed Galaxy S26 launch and weakness in entry-level phones, and Apple took the top spot. Samsung got it back in Q2 and held it in Q3.

The lead is narrow, though. Apple sits just one point behind at 22%, and its first foldable, the iPhone Duo, reaches buyers from late October. The fight for the top spot in Q4 will come down to how many people are willing to pay foldable prices.