European Smartphone Shipments Drop 6 Percent in 1Q26

Europe’s smartphone market took a downturn in 1Q26 as shipments declined 6% YoY, according to Counterpoint Research. The drop happened largely due to a deteriorating macro environment.

The memory price crisis started to impact OEMs, with many choosing to either raise prices of new products or adopt spec ‘shrinkflation’ (reduce component upgrades), while the onset of the Iran War resulted in spiralling energy prices and a weakened economic outlook. Both factors negatively impacted consumer purchasing, especially towards the end of the quarter.

“Aside from the macro headwinds, another factor was the delayed launch of the Samsung Galaxy S26 series. The launch itself was a relative success, with Counterpoint Research Weekly Smartphone Sales data showing a 4% increase in sales for S26 in Western Europe in the first four weeks of availability compared to the S25 over the same time period. However, the fact that the launch was a week later than the S25 in 2025 meant many shipments were pushed into Q2, impacting the YoY comparison. This resulted in Samsung’s overall smartphone shipments declining by 12% YoY in 1Q26,” said Jan Stryjak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research.

“Conversely, Apple had a solid Q1 2026 thanks to good growth in Eastern Europe and a steady trickle of users migrating to Apple from Android in Western Europe. In addition, the iPhone 17e was perceived as a significant upgrade to the iPhone 16e, unlike most other new devices, so its launch was relatively successful. We expect the macro environment to remain challenging throughout the rest of 2026. More recent smartphone launches have seen significant price rises as a result of the memory crisis, for example, the volume-heavy Samsung Galaxy A series and HONOR 600 series, and with geopolitical tensions remaining high, the region needs to brace itself for further difficulties ahead,” concluded Stryak.