Smartphone shipments in the Middle East (excluding Turkey) fell 19% year-on-year (YoY) to 10.6 million units in quarter two (Q2) of 2026, the region’s sharpest decline rates since the fourth quarter of 2025, according to Omdia’s latest research.
Price increases, supply constraints, and geopolitical uncertainty have pushed vendors to prioritize value over shipment volumes, while retailers across the region have adopted more cautious inventory strategies alongside weakening consumer confidence, according to the research group.
Shipments of smartphones priced below $200 fell 42% compared with quarter two of 2025, highlighting the significant pricing and supply challenges facing businesses focused on the entry-level segment, according to Omdia. Markets with greater exposure to entry-level devices recorded some of the largest declines in the region, including Iraq, where shipments fell 36% YoY, adds the research group.
Meanwhile, the mid-range has become the core strategic focus for manufacturers. Rather than compromising specifications to defend volume, vendors are maintaining premium features, across memory and storage configurations, cameras, batteries and AI capabilities.
Omdia says shipments of devices priced above US$300 grew 16% year-on-year, with devices featuring 256GB of storage accounted for 55% of shipments demonstrating how manufacturers are raising consumers’ baseline expectations.
The premium segment also remained resilient, with shipments of devices priced above $800 reaching 1.9 million units – the highest second quarter high-end volume for the segment to date in the Middle East. Apple’s continued popularity was the biggest driver for the premium segment’s growth, according to Omdia.
The iPhone maker grew 1% compared to the second quarter of 2025, “as resilient premium demand, ecosystem strength and access to financing helped insulate it from broader market pressures in the second quarter of 2026,” the research group notes.
Apple sold 1.1 million iPhones during the quarter for 11% share of the Middle East (excluding Turkey) smartphone market. The company is now the fifth largest smartphone maker in the area. It trails Samsung (39% market share), HONOR (13%), TRANSSION (11% and Xiaomi (11%).
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