Global Smartphone Shipments Post Their Steepest Q3 Drop Since 2012

Worldwide smartphone shipments fell roughly 20% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2026 to their lowest Q3 total since 2012, according to preliminary estimates from Counterpoint Research. Analysts tied the slump to rising memory-chip costs pushing up device prices — retail smartphone prices are up 20% so far this year — with Samsung and Apple the only major brands to grow market share even as the overall market contracted.

Photo: PhoneTek via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).