Google Pixel, Nothing emerge as India's fastest-growing smartphone brands
What's the story
Despite the overall decline in India's smartphone market, two brands have emerged as the fastest-growing: Google Pixel and Nothing. According to a recent report by Counterpoint Research, the country's smartphone shipments fell 10% year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 2026. The drop is attributed to multiple price hikes across all segments due to record-high memory costs.
Brand performance
Nothing tops the chart with 105% YoY growth
London-based tech company Nothing emerged as India's fastest-growing smartphone brand in Q2 2026, with an impressive 105% YoY shipment growth.
The company's success is attributed to the popularity of its Phone (4a) series and increased visibility after sponsoring Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the IPL season.
Notably, these figures do not include CMF, a former sub-brand that was spun off late last year.
Market expansion
Google Pixel's success in ultra-premium segment
Google Pixel also witnessed a strong performance, especially in the ultra-premium segment (phones priced over ₹45,000).
The brand recorded a 68% YoY growth in Q2 2026.
This success is attributed to aggressive marketing strategies and expansion into offline retail sales without any price hikes on its products.
Market leaders
Vivo retains top position, Samsung sees annual growth
Despite the overall market decline, Vivo (excluding iQOO) retained its top position with a 17.8% market share.
The brand's premium V70 series was in strong demand despite weaker sales of its Y and T series smartphones after price hikes.
Samsung was the only one of the top-five smartphone brands to register annual growth with a 2% YoY increase, thanks to healthy demand for its Galaxy A and S series smartphones.
Brand standings
OPPO, Xiaomi, and Realme round out top 5 brands
OPPO secured the third position with a 13.6% market share, driven by strong performance in the above-₹20,000 segment with models like the A6 and K14 series.
Xiaomi (including POCO) ranked fourth with a 13.4% share while Realme rounded out the top five with a 10% contribution to shipments.
Apple's shipments fell 3% YoY during this period due to persistent supply constraints and inventory shortages across online/offline retail channels limiting shipment growth despite strong demand for its iPhone 17 series.