The 'Galaxy S26 series' smartphones from Samsung Electronics are displayed at the Samsung Gangnam store in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 11th, the official launch day. [Yonhap News] 

Samsung Electronics, which lost its top spot in annual smartphone sales to Apple last year, has reclaimed the number one position in the first quarter.

Market research firm Omdia announced on the 10th (local time) that Samsung Electronics recorded a 22% market share in the global smartphone market in the first quarter, surpassing Apple's 20%.

Omdia analyzed, "Samsung Electronics regained the top spot, driven by solid demand for its premium products and strong pre-order performance of the Galaxy S26 series, despite disruptions in the release cycle of its mid-range models."

Specifically, Omdia estimated that the pre-order performance of the Galaxy S26 series increased by more than 10% globally compared to its predecessor, the S25.

However, Omdia added that Apple also saw strong sales based on high demand for the iPhone 17 series.

As a result, the smartphone market showed a deepening duopoly between Samsung Electronics and Apple.

The combined market share of the two companies was 42%, an increase of 3 percentage points (P) from 39% in the same period last year.

China's Xiaomi maintained its third-place position, following last year, but its market share decreased by 3%P from 14% to 11%.

Oppo (10%) and Vivo (7%), which maintained their 4th and 5th positions, also saw their market shares decrease by 1%P each compared to the same period last year.

Omdia explained, "Most Android manufacturers, excluding the top two companies, are facing difficulties in both sales volume and profit," adding that manufacturers relying on entry-level and mid-to-low-end products were particularly hit by the global memory shortage.

Omdia projected that the global smartphone market grew by 1% in the first quarter compared to the first quarter of last year, but overall shipments for the year are expected to decrease by about 15% from last year due to rising costs and macroeconomic fluctuations.

Meanwhile, another market research firm, Counterpoint Research, reported that Apple maintained its top position in the first quarter with a market share of 21%, while Samsung Electronics recorded 20%.