Omdia: US Smartphone Market Declined 3% in 1Q26 Amid Pricing Pressure and Carrier Subsidy Shifts
The US smartphone market declined 3% year over year to 33.4 million units in 1Q26, according to Omdia’s latest research. The comparison was against an elevated 1Q25 base when vendors and carriers accelerated inventory build-up ahead of potential US tariff actions. Beyond this comparison effect, US smartphone shipments were pressured by a more restrained carrier upgrade environment, rising memory and storage costs, and delayed device launches that compressed sell-through for key premium models. However, anticipated price increases also drove channel pull-forward for some budget models ahead of 2Q26.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260527603016/en/ US smartphone market shipment, 1Q23 to 1Q26
“The US smartphone market did not experience a broad demand shock in Q1 2026,” said Eric Chen, Senior Analyst at Omdia. “The decline was modest, but the quarter was shaped by several overlapping factors, including an elevated Q1 2025 comparison, more selective carrier subsidies, rising component costs and later device launches. The result was a market where shipment performance depended heavily on channel execution and timing.”
