The year’s second quarter ended on June 30, and IDC became the first to drop details on how the global smartphone market performed. While the worldwide market growth remained sluggish in Q2 2025, Samsung grew fast, defeating Apple with its AI phones.

According to IDC, a total of 295.2 million smartphones were sold in the second quarter, with a mere 1.0% YoY growth. Samsung flagged the highest growth YoY and led the market, with Apple as the runner-up with lagging growth in Q2 2025.

Not Galaxy S25, but these phones are doing well

Samsung shipped 58 million phones in the second quarter of the year. The company seized 19.7 percent market share with a 7.9 percent YoY growth. Sales grew from 53.8 million in 2Q24 to 58 million in 2Q25, and market share grew from 18.4 percent to 19.7 percent.

Galaxy A36 and Galaxy A56, launched on the verge of Q2, are doing well. The report highlights the positive impact of the release of these phones that pushed Samsung ahead of Apple with a big growth rate in the worldwide market.

Samsung was able to consolidate its market leadership and outperform the overall market achieving strong growth in the quarter driven by the sales of its new Galaxy A36 and A56 products,” said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president, Client Devices, IDC.

Apple sold 46.4 million iPhones in the same period and secured a 15.7 percent share. The company’s growth remains slow due to a sales drop in the Chinese market and US tariff volatility.

Analysts at IDC highlighted that “While Apple was the top brand during the promotion period, it saw a 1% drop in China in Q2, offset by strong double-digit growth in emerging markets leading to a 1.5% growth globally in the quarter.”

Xiaomi remained the third biggest smartphone seller, recording 14.4 percent market share with 42.5 million smartphones shipped around the world.

Vivo and Transsion (Tecno) sold 27.1 million and 25.1 million phones in Q2, respectively. The former had a 9.2 percent share with 4.8 percent YoY growth, while the latter had an 8.5 percent market share with 1.7 percent decline YoY.

Samsung Galaxy S25 series has a vibrant specs sheet for customers ranging from the smallest to the largest models, and the Galaxy S26 could unveil as the next paradigm of these devices, as suggested in the new codename leak.

A new detail coming from Winfuture reveals that the Galaxy S26 series development is being carried under the codename Next Paradigm. The current stream of info shows three modes – NPA1, NPA2, and NPA3. These are expected to be the Galaxy S26, Galaxy S26 Plus (or Edge), and Galaxy S26 Ultra.

These codenames leaked amid confusion surrounding the Galaxy S26 Plus’s future. Plus has been one of the most sold devices and played a critical role in Samsung’s promotional strategy even before the arrival of Ultra. However, the Galaxy S26 Edge now stands as a formidable alternative to those who want something stylish over volume, and it targets the same audience as the Plus variant. Therefore, offering two models at the same price won’t make any sense.

Samsung may sacrifice the S26 Plus to fully adapt the slim S26 Edge. Still, this is just a stream of thick cloud, while we have to wait for a clear view.

Rumors about the Plus model’s exclusion appeared right after the S25 Edge’s release, including the codename NPA for the upcoming flagship. To be mentioned, the Galaxy S25 had a codename, Paradigm, abbreviated as PA.

In May, NPA was in the early stages of development, and Samsung was selecting vendors for the project. At that time, the report specifically mentioned that the Galaxy S25 Edge’s sales performance will decide its future in 2026, and it seems that Samsung is satisfied with what this slim phone has achieved so far. Or it may be just a hallucination, and Samsung will give the S26 Edge a separate launch, just like this year.

Hint for the future

The Galaxy S25 series has three launch models: S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra. The S25 and Plus had substantial improvements, such as a battery and a new processor. On the other hand, the S25 Ultra had makeup over the S24, submitting its square design to history and bringing a more aesthetically rich outlook featuring titanium.

Despite being a part of the series, Samsung released Galaxy S25 Edge after three month of main lineup. This decision is highly influenced by the phone’s super slim design, which the the Korean company marketed as its biggest innovation in mobile design.

Samsung ensured that the phone not only remains symbolic for its thin body but also offers a high-quality camera, a flagship processor, a strong design, and the latest AI features. Still, the majority of the users criticized the phone’s battery backup, which is rated 3900mAh.

The codename Next Paradigm means that Samsung may be planning some tweaks in the design side while retaining the specs upgrade strategy. That said, we expect Samsung to experiment with the Edge’s downside, such as its battery life, and take it over 4000mAh.

The S26 Ultra will get a new chipset, a better close-range telephoto, and battery optimizations. A major change in the design could be the thickness reduction, thus making it more user-friendly. Meanwhile, the standard version will also see a minor improvement, taking the torch forward from the previous device.

That said, the road to the next paradigm will go through the S25 series, and Samsung may not attempt any dramatic shift in the Galaxy S26 series. This belief deepens due to Samsung’s past smartphone launches when Samsung preferred incremental upgrades over any serious change.

However, we’re far away from seeing any design specific leak, until then, take the speculations as a pinch of salt.

Samsung is preparing to launch Galaxy Watch 8 faces for older smartwatch models. Recently, owners of the Galaxy Watch 7 with One UI 8 Watch have managed to install the new faces, but you can get them without the latest OS, too.

Galaxy Watch 8 faces don’t require the One UI 8 Watch software to function on previous Samsung smartwatch models. Users interested in new watch faces can manually install the asset files, available in APKs, courtesy of TechnoProz (via ThatJoshGuy).

Installing the APKs offers you access to 7 of the new watch faces from the Galaxy Watch 8 series. Titles include Circle Dashboard, Daily Dashboard, Dynamic Digits, Heritage Classic, Minimal Analog, Minimal Digital, and Sporty Classic.

Note that it’s entirely a manual process, and you need to install 7 APK files for each watch face. The new faces work on One UI 6 Watch devices, too. While it’s safe to proceed, you might face glitches or crashes as the official rollout is awaited.

• Galaxy Watch 8 faces asset files – Download APKs [Google Drive]

Source – Theordysm

It’s worth noting that the Galaxy Watch 8 series brings Samsung’s most stylish watch faces. The complete set brings both digital and analog titles to choose from. If you prefer a detailed page, the new smartwatches have got you covered.

Samsung’s Stable One UI 8 Watch update would bring new faces to all smartwatches. The Beta testing is underway, and the Beta Program’s expansion is likely this month. The Stable update is expected to be rolled out in the third quarter.

Disclaimer: Samsung’s One UI blocks app sideloading for security reasons. If Auto Blocker is enabled, you need to turn it off from Settings to install the APK. OEMs do not advise manual APK installs to get new features instantly.

Samsung scored a victory in a crucial lawsuit that could block the imports of China-made OLED displays in the US. The International Trade Commission of America acknowledged that BOE infringed on Samsung Display’s OLED secrets.

The US ITC, in its preliminary ruling, backed Samsung in the lawsuit against BOE over OLED display tech infringement, resulting in a potential ban on imports. If the ban is imposed, it could shake up the US OLED display market.

Samsung Display is the undisputed king in OLED and legacy display technologies. LG Display and China’s BOE are its biggest opponents. Back in 2023, Samsung accused BOE stating it infringing on OLED technology for quick trade gains.

Reports suggest that the US ITC has decided to impose an import ban on BOE. These remarks are made in ITC’s preliminary ruling, which is hard to overturn in the final verdict. However, the decision won’t come into effect until the delivery of the verdict.

Once the court delivers a final judgement, the US President will have the right to veto the ruling. It would take up to two months to come into effect, that too, if the President does not overturn the court’s verdict on the OLED import ban.

The potential ban on imports could shake up the mobile OLED supply chain as well. Apple’s iPhone uses BOE-made OLED screens in low-end models. If the ban covers mobile OLEDs, it’s going to be a significant blow to the Chinese display maker.

Samsung will launch the Galaxy S26 series next year, but a new report has just exposed the expected display size of all three upcoming models. The news coming from a trusted source, which can be considered as the final product spec.

According to TheElec (via Jukanlosreve), Samsung is working on the Galaxy S26, S26 Edge, and S26 Ultra, with the base and Ultra models getting a display size tweak.

Galaxy S26 series screen size revealed

Galaxy S26 (base):

Samsung’s Galaxy S26 could feature a 6.27-inch screen, which could be marketed as 6.3-inch. It’s a very small increase in size compared to the Galaxy S25, which uses a 6.2-inch screen. Meanwhile, the phone’s dimensions are unlikely to be affected.

Galaxy S26 Edge (replacing Plus):

TheElec brings another hint that Samsung is killing the Galaxy S26 Plus. The middle child of the next lineup could be the S26 Edge, which is slated to sport a 6.66-inch display, which Samsung could market as 6.7-inch.

Galaxy S26 Ultra:

Samsung’s next Ultra, the Galaxy S26 Ultra, will retain a 6.9-inch OLED display. It’s the same size as the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which has a 6.86-inch screen, while the Galaxy S26 Ultra’s panel is said to measure 6.89 inches – it’s a negligible change.

Samsung Galaxy S25, S25 Plus and S25 Ultra

The report also suggests that the parts for the Galaxy S26 series will be mass-produced from the fourth quarter of this year. It’s a fruitful timeframe for component mass production ahead of product release in the first quarter of next year.

Regarding display, we just heard that the Galaxy S26 Ultra will use a new OLED display technology. The new CoE OLED is said to be adopted in the S26 Ultra, which will offer a clearer screen, longer battery life, and a slimmer design.