Smartphone shipments across the Middle East excluding Turkey fell 19 per cent year-on-year to 10.6 million units in the second quarter of 2026, as rising prices, supply constraints and geopolitical uncertainty pushed vendors towards higher-value devices, according to research firm Omdia.

The decline was the region’s sharpest since the fourth quarter of 2025, with retailers also taking a more cautious approach to inventories amid weakening consumer confidence.

The market underwent a broad recalibration during the quarter, as manufacturers passed higher component costs on to consumers while seeking to strengthen their position in the mid-range and premium segments.

Shipments of smartphones priced below $200 fell 42 per cent year-on-year, underlining the pressure facing manufacturers and retailers reliant on entry-level demand.

Markets with greater exposure to lower-priced devices recorded some of the steepest declines, with smartphone shipments in Iraq falling 36 per cent compared with the second quarter of 2025.

The mid-range segment has become a key strategic focus for manufacturers, which have increasingly opted to retain premium specifications rather than sacrifice features to preserve shipment volumes.

Manufacturers have maintained upgrades in areas including memory and storage, cameras, battery capacity and artificial intelligence capabilities.

Shipments of devices priced above $300 rose 16 per cent year-on-year, while smartphones equipped with 256GB of storage accounted for 55 per cent of shipments, suggesting that consumer expectations for specifications continue to rise.

The premium market also proved resilient, with shipments of smartphones priced above $800 reaching 1.9 million units, the highest second-quarter volume recorded for the segment in the Middle East.

Apple’s continued popularity was the main driver of premium-market growth, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar were particularly receptive to efforts to move consumers towards higher-priced devices.

In the UAE, a developed retail network used instalment financing to support higher-value upgrades, helping limit the market’s overall decline to 7 per cent.

Qatar recorded 2 per cent growth, supported by stable economic conditions and continued demand for premium smartphones.

The contrasting performance between market tiers helped push the region’s average selling price up 25 per cent year-on-year to $448, its highest level for any second quarter.

“We are observing a convergence of necessity and strategy in the Middle East’s smartphone market,” said Manish Pravinkumar, principal analyst at Omdia.

“Vendors are preserving product competitiveness and brand positioning while acknowledging that short-term volume sacrifices are unavoidable,” he added.

“Prioritising profitability and revenue over volume has become critical in an increasingly challenging operating environment, even at the expense of short-term results,” Pravinkumar stated.

“This strategic shift reflects lessons learned during previous cost cycles, where aggressive price competition destroyed profitability without establishing sustainable market foundations,” Pravinkumar added.

The performance of individual manufacturers reflected their differing strategies during the quarter.

Samsung retained its position as the region’s leading vendor, securing a 39 per cent market share despite a 7 per cent fall in shipments.

The company balanced its volume-driving Galaxy A-series with Galaxy S26 models aimed at protecting profitability.

HONOR, the region’s second-largest vendor, recorded 2 per cent growth as it defended its market position.

TRANSSION and Xiaomi ranked third and fourth respectively, but both came under significant pressure from persistent pricing increases and weaker affordability among entry-level consumers.

TRANSSION shipments fell 40 per cent year-on-year, while Xiaomi shipments plunged 50 per cent.

Both manufacturers faced challenges to their cost-performance positioning, with limited scope to absorb higher component costs without further squeezing consumer demand.

Apple, by contrast, recorded 1 per cent growth compared with the second quarter of 2025.

Its performance was supported by resilient demand for premium devices, the strength of its ecosystem, and consumers’ access to financing, which helped shield the company from wider market pressures.