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Chinese Smartphone Market Shrinks Significantly with Shipments Hitting a 10-Year Low
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News18•21-10-2026, 07:58
Chinese Smartphone Market Shrinks Significantly with Shipments Hitting a 10-Year Low
- •Chinese smartphone shipments saw a massive decline of 26 percent in the July-September quarter, hitting the lowest third-quarter level since 2016.
- •Samsung surpassed Vivo to claim the top spot in the market, shipping 67 lakh phones backed by its affordable Galaxy A-series and attractive financing offers.
- •Vivo's shipments dropped by 34 percent due to frequent price hikes and limited supplies of entry-level phones.
- •Xiaomi and OPPO also experienced significant drops in shipments of 28 percent and 24 percent respectively amid rising component costs.
- •Apple shipped 39 lakh phones and secured the fifth position, driven by demand for iPhone 16 and base iPhone 17 models.
Key Questions Answered
Samsung reclaimed the top spot in India's smartphone market during the third quarter of 2026 by shipping 6.7 million units.
Shipments dropped due to price hikes that made customers refrain from buying new phones, along with manufacturers reducing supply ahead of the festive season.
Xiaomi's shipments fell by 28% to 4.7 million units because rising component costs forced the company to compromise on its traditional low pricing and memory configurations.
