The US smartphone market began 2026 on shaky ground, according to fresh data from Omdia. Shipments totaled 33.4 million units in the first quarter, a 3 percent decline from the same period a year earlier.
Two primary forces drove this contraction. Phone manufacturers had rushed to stockpile inventory in the first quarter of 2025 to anticipate import tariffs the Trump Administration was preparing to roll out. That buffer has now faded. At the same time, memory chip costs continue to climb, and consumers are simply buying fewer devices.
Launch delays also squeezed the quarter. Samsung pushed its Galaxy S26 series out roughly a month later than the prior year’s timeline, which tightened the available selling window. That delay gave Apple an opening. With the Galaxy S26 absent from shelves earlier in the quarter, more premium buyers opted for the iPhone 17 lineup instead. The iPhone 17 series made up 70 percent of all Apple shipments. Still, the company could not escape the broader downturn. Its overall shipments fell 3 percent year over year even as it held onto the top spot.
Samsung landed in second place, though its volume dropped 5 percent from the first quarter of 2025. The late Galaxy S26 launch hurt, even though the series itself performed well. Pre-orders for the Galaxy S26 lineup climbed 25 percent above what the Galaxy S25 managed.
Motorola stood out as the only major brand to grow. Its shipments jumped 18 percent year over year, powered largely by refreshed Moto G models that represented more than 70 percent of the company’s total volume. While the US market struggles, Europe’s smartphone shipments rise 2% in first quarter, but face a 12% drop by 2026, Omdia reports indicates a divergent global trend where regional dynamics vary significantly.
Google slipped 7 percent. Sales of the Pixel 10 series went nowhere, and bringing the Pixel 10a out early did not do enough to lift the flagship’s weak showing.
The market is also splitting into two camps. Budget and premium tiers are holding up better than the middle. Phones priced below 300 euros grew 8 percent, and the 800-euro-plus segment dipped just 1 percent. Everything in between suffered. The 300 to 599 euro range collapsed 19 percent, while the 600 to 700 euro bracket fell 6 percent.
Omdia sees tighter ties with US carriers as the best path forward. Bundled plans and promotions, the firm argues, can soften the blow of pricier components on everyday buyers. For the full year, analysts project a 4 percent market decline. The domestic weakness stands in contrast to other regions, Meanwhile, Samsung reportedly planning price hike on flagship smartphones next week signals that pricing pressure is not letting up.
