It’s no big secret that the first three months of 2026 were tough for many of the world’s top smartphone vendors, with reports putting global sales at anywhere between 4 and 6 percent below their Q1 2025 levels, but not all key markets and leading brands experienced the same type of decline.
So where’s the truth?
To be perfectly honest, I have no idea, but the optimist in me clearly wants to put his trust in Omdia and the company’s 33 million European sales estimate for the January-March 2026 period.
This graph actually shows an increase in European smartphone sales in Q1 2026, which is definitely a little surprising. | Image by Omdia
Of course, hardcore Apple fans aren’t going to like these new figures, which are higher than last year for the Cupertino-based tech giant… but also for Samsung, Motorola, and Oppo.
Apple, remember, was the continent’s only top five vendor found to have improved its sales results in Q1 2026 by Counterpoint Research, and that 7 percent progress was deemed significant enough to tie Samsung for first place, at 30 percent market share.
Omdia, meanwhile, offers vastly different share numbers for Europe’s two biggest players, which are apparently separated by no less than 12 percentage points. That’s like looking at two totally distinct markets, but instead, it’s the same region analyzed by two different research companies.
Motorola and Honor are Europe’s largest Q1 2026 gainers
While both Samsung and Apple can be pleased with their 3 and 9 percent regional sales improvements, respectively, in this new report, two other brands are actually declared the big stars of the European smartphone market this week.
We’re talking about Motorola and Honor, and although the latter somehow managed to boost its shipments by over 60 percent compared to Q1 2025 to rise to the sixth vendor spot and threaten Oppo’s place in the top five, I’d like us to focus a little more on the continent’s fourth-largest player.
Four of Europe’s top five smartphone vendors apparently managed to improve their sales numbers in Q1 2026. | Image by Omdia
That’s because this is the second time in 24 hours we’re discussing a Motorola feat unrivaled by Apple or Samsung, and in a way, it’s even more impressive to see the Lenovo-owned brand post a 17 percent year-on-year increase in its quarterly sales in Europe than its latest US achievement.
Motorola, mind you, has been a top three vendor stateside for several years now, but its European presence is a little more timid, rapidly expanding, however, in countries as diverse as Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. Still, it’s clearly going to be difficult to challenge for a place on the podium, as Xiaomi continues to hold a huge advantage despite dropping from 5.3 to 4.5 million unit sales and from 16 to 14 percent market share.
The iPhone 17 series and… the Galaxy A16 4G are singled out as strong European performers
And that, my friends and dear readers, is why Samsung can’t be fully content with its regional volumes. While Apple is deriving most of its sales from the high-end iPhone 17 family released just a few months ago, the most popular Android handset on the old continent is likely an ultra-low-cost 6.7-incher from all the way back in 2024… with no 5G support.
Smartphone prices are going up in Europe, but obviously not thanks to low-end products like the Samsung Galaxy A16 4G. | Image by Omdia
Part of the Galaxy A16’s supremacy, of course, has a lot to do with the late releases of the premium Galaxy S26 lineup and the Galaxy A37 5G and Galaxy A57 5G mid-rangers, but either way, Samsung continues to have a big profitability issue in regions like Europe.
That’s an especially concerning problem at a time when average selling prices are growing, reaching a new €580 record in Q1 2026. This is likely to keep going up as component costs are only expected to stabilize next year, and unsurprisingly, rising product prices are projected to cause an overall decline in European smartphone sales of 12 percent at the end of this year compared to the last.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian’s passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for ‘adequate’ over ‘overpriced’.
