Samsung, Oppo, Vivo Face Pushback as Xiaomi Raises 2026 Phone Shipment Target

Jiemian News reported that Oppo and Vivo recently rejected Samsung's third-quarter memory pricing, while Xiaomi has raised its 2026 smartphone shipment target from about 90 million units to 110 million units, with most of the increase expected from lower-end models. The move comes as handset makers resist further memory price increases after AI-driven demand pushed some phone memory quotes up more than 300% and raised storage costs to as much as 40% of bill of materials for some sub-1,000-yuan phones. The article said IDC estimated China's smartphone market shipments at about 66.01 million units in the second quarter of 2026, down 4.3% year on year, marking a fifth straight quarterly decline. Counterpoint cut its forecast for global phone shipments this year to about 1.08 billion units in early June, lowering its full-year decline estimate from 2.1% to 13.9%, the weakest level since 2013. It also cited China Academy of Information and Communications Technology data showing China's average smartphone replacement cycle has reached 40.2 months, while IDC expects it may lengthen to more than 42 months. Jiemian News also reported that Huawei's domestic market share reached 23% in the second quarter of 2026, the highest since the fourth quarter of 2020, helped by strong demand for the Enjoy 90 Pro Max. Third-party data cited in the story said the phone, which starts at 1,699 yuan, has passed 3.1 million activations in just over three months.