China’s smartphone market shrank 15.4% in the third quarter of 2026, and Apple’s share of it still grew. IDC’s preliminary data puts shipments at about 57.9 million units, and Apple finished with 17.8% of them, up from 15.8% a year earlier.
IDC attributes the drop to rising memory and component costs, which pushed up prices and forced phone makers to change their configurations. The pressure has landed hardest on Android vendors and smaller brands, and consumers need time to adjust to the higher prices. IDC describes the quarter as one of falling volume and rising prices. New phones were priced higher across the board, and makers adjusted their configurations to balance the added cost.
For scale, shipments were roughly 66 million units in the second quarter, so the market lost about 8 million units from one quarter to the next.
Apple gained share even though it shipped fewer iPhones than a year ago
IDC says the new iPhones were received better than expected, but Apple’s shipments slipped slightly from last year because it has fewer models on sale. The overall market fell much faster than Apple did, which lifted its share by two percentage points year over year.
Apple held 18.1% in the second quarter, so the third-quarter figure is a step back of 0.3 points from that level. A shrinking market lifts the share of any vendor that falls by less, and that is the main reason Apple’s number rose.
Huawei climbed to 21.1% and was the only top vendor with double-digit growth
Huawei stayed ahead of Apple with 21.1% of shipments and grew by double digits year over year. IDC credits its varied product lineup and price increases that were smaller than its rivals’. Honor was the only major vendor to grow from the previous quarter, which IDC reads as a possible rebound.
China’s smartphone shipments fell about 4% year over year in the first half of 2026, so the third-quarter drop is nearly four times as steep.
IDC expects cost pressure to last through most of 2027
Memory and other component costs are expected to stay high for several more quarters, and phone prices should keep climbing. IDC does not expect the fourth quarter to improve even with a wave of new phones across every price tier.
The firm expects the largest vendors to pull customers from smaller ones, thanks to stronger brand pull and smaller price hikes than their rivals. Buyers are expected to accept the new price level over time and replace their phones when the next upgrade point arrives. IDC expects the cost pressure to last through most of 2027, with the market continuing to decline.
