IDC says Q3 phone shipments fell 22% to 255.3 million

IDC's preliminary worldwide tracker, datelined Oct. 14 and posted Oct. 15, puts Q3 2026 smartphone shipments at 255.3 million units, down 22.0% from 327.3 million, which IDC calls the steepest year-over-year drop of any quarter. Samsung shipped 57.8 million (22.6%, down 5.8%) and Apple 57.3 million (22.4%, down 4.0%), while Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo shipped 30.7 million, 25.6 million and 19.1 million, down 29.2%, 34.5% and 31.5%. The table is preliminary branded shipments, and IDC says memory costs are up about 350% from a year earlier, with any recovery pushed to 2028 at the earliest.