India Smartphone Shipments Drop 26% as Samsung Leads

Higher phone prices and cautious spending restrained India’s festive-season smartphone trade, while retailers held back on stock, according to Omdia. Later Diwali inventory-building also moved some shipments from September into October, deepening the decline recorded for July through September.

In its October 19 report, Omdia estimated shipments at 35.8 million units, down 26% from the same quarter in 2025. That was the lowest third-quarter volume since 2016, not the lowest shipment total across every quarter since then.

The measure concerns phones entering the market’s distribution channels, rather than a count of purchases at retail counters. Delayed stocking can affect that measure without establishing an equivalent change in consumer purchases. The result follows earlier smartphone price pressures in India.

Samsung regained first place for the first time since the opening quarter of 2024, shipping 6.7 million units. GSMArena’s account puts that at about 19% of the market. Omdia cited support from its Galaxy A-series and a broader premium portfolio, alongside financing and upgrade offers.

Second-placed vivo shipped 6.4 million phones, down 34% year on year, the steepest fall among the top five vendors. Its weaker performance illustrates why a return to the top ranking should not automatically be described as growth in the leader’s own shipment volume.

OPPO followed with 4.9 million units, down 24%. Xiaomi shipped 4.7 million, a 28% decline, while Apple completed the top five with 3.9 million. The ranking and the rates of change describe different things: one shows relative position, the other compares a vendor with its own year-earlier performance.

Apple’s shipments benefited partly from channel stocking ahead of anticipated price increases, according to Omdia, alongside demand for older base models and the late-quarter Pro launches. Stocking ahead of a possible increase is not the same measure as completed purchases by consumers.

Chinese brands’ combined share fell to approximately 68%, from 75% a year earlier. That is a decline of about seven percentage points, not seven percent. The India estimates are also separate from the recently reported global smartphone downturn; the two should not be merged into one market total.

Omdia principal analyst Sanyam Chaurasia described a shift away from online-led festive shipment expansion toward more selective channel strategies. The firm forecasts another low-single-digit shipment decline in India in 2027, with pricing pressure persisting through at least the first half. Those are forward-looking expectations, not results already recorded for next year.