The quarter was always expected to be weak, "largely because of the memory crisis".
The Middle East and Africa smartphone market is shrinking sharply. Picture: iStock
The smartphone market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is shrinking sharply, but new data from Counterpoint Research shows the downturn is reshaping the region’s competitive landscape rather than slowing it.
Samsung, Realme and Apple all grew in Q2 2026 despite a 10% year‑on‑year decline in overall shipments, gaining ground directly at the expense of rivals hit hardest by component shortages and collapsing entry‑tier demand.
MEA market
The MEA market contracted during a quarter with no sales‑driving occasions, but the decline was uneven. Several brands saw steep drops, while Samsung, Realme and Apple expanded significantly.
With no new demand emerging, their gains came entirely from competitors’ lost volume. Counterpoint notes that “every unit Samsung gained came out of Infinix, Tecno and Xiaomi’s shares”.
The region’s entry‑level backbone weakened sharply. The sub‑$250 segment fell 26% year‑on‑year, the steepest decline of any price band, as the global memory crisis forced manufacturers to prioritise higher‑margin models.
Weak quarter
Analyst Ahmad Shehab said Q2 was always expected to be weak, “largely because of the memory crisis, as well as the shift in the Islamic calendar against the Gregorian calendar which concentrated all H1 occasions into Q1”.
Shehab said the supply shock hit some brands far harder than others.
“Transsion and Xiaomi were hit hardest, steeply impacting their market shares, because their volume is concentrated in exactly the entry‑tier segment, which is the most exposed to the memory price crunch.”
That displacement created openings. Samsung captured underserved demand with strong performance from its A07 and A17 models and its S26 flagship lineup.
Realme also expanded by diverting units from India into MEA rather than securing additional supply – a strategic allocation shift that turned geography into a lever in a constrained market.
5G
According to the report, 5G shipments grew 8% year‑on‑year, far outpacing global growth of 1%.
Counterpoint attributes this to a low base and rapid network buildout, with Apple and Samsung driving most of the region’s 5G momentum.
The data points to a market being pushed up the price curve not by consumer appetite, but by scarcity.
As Shehab noted, the uneven shock “hit the market hard, though unevenly”, reshaping competition in a region long defined by entry‑level volume.
