Counterpoint Research (CR) has just published its report regarding the global smartphone market for the third quarter of the year (July to September). And it was a terrible one. Shipments dropped 20% compared to Q3 2025. The only winners in terms of growing their market shares were Samsung and Apple. Samsung led the pack with a 23% market share (compared to 19% in the year-ago quarter), while Apple was a close second with 22% (up from 18% in Q3 2025). They were followed by Xiaomi with 10% of the pie (down from 14%), Oppo with 9% (down from 12%), and vivo with 8% (down from 9%).