News Summary

• Counterpoint Research predicts that Samsung will be the number one smartphone brand in terms of shipments this year.
• It says that the brand taking back the crown is a sign of its greater resilience to higher memory chip prices compared to other brands.
• At the same time, the research firm expects global smartphone shipments to decline 14.3% in 2026 due to the ongoing memory chip shortage.
• Despite that, the South Korean tech giant is expected to grow 0.8%.
• The growth will be driven by its highly integrated supply chain and mature distribution network.