AnTuTu Q4 Data Shows Qualcomm Dominating Android Chips as Xiaomi Breaks In

Qualcomm is tightening its grip on Android performance just as the market heads into 2026. New AnTuTu data covering Q4 2025 shows Qualcomm powered devices accounting for 71.2 percent of Android smartphones currently in use in China, confirming that the company remains the default choice for most manufacturers in the world’s largest smartphone market.

The numbers paint a clear picture of scale. Roughly seven out of every ten Android phones in active use rely on a Qualcomm processor, a dominance built on coverage rather than a single flagship chip. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite and Gen series continue to anchor premium Android phones, while the Snapdragon 7 and 6 families handle the bulk of the midrange. At the lower end, Snapdragon 4 chips ensure Qualcomm still has visibility in affordable devices.

This breadth matters when compared to Apple, which controls its own silicon end to end, and Google, which limits Tensor chips to Pixel phones. Qualcomm’s advantage is not exclusivity but ubiquity, allowing it to benefit from the combined volume of dozens of Android brands rather than a single hardware line.

MediaTek remains the clear number two, holding 27.4 percent of the Android processor market according to AnTuTu. While far behind Qualcomm in total share, MediaTek’s trajectory continues to trend upward, especially in value driven segments. The Dimensity 9000 series has helped MediaTek gain credibility in upper tier phones, but the company’s real strength lies in midrange and budget hardware.

That strength is visible in AnTuTu’s December 2025 midrange smartphone rankings, where nine of the top ten devices ran on MediaTek chips. Helio processors and Dimensity 7000 and 8000 series parts have become the backbone of phones that prioritize cost efficiency while still delivering acceptable performance, battery life, and thermal behavior. For manufacturers competing on price, MediaTek increasingly represents the safer margin play.

Beyond the top two, the landscape drops off sharply. Samsung ranked third with just 0.6 percent market share, reflecting the limited reach of Exynos processors outside Samsung’s own Galaxy lineup. Despite years of investment, Exynos remains a niche player compared to the scale enjoyed by Qualcomm and MediaTek, and its influence on the broader Android ecosystem remains minimal.

The most unexpected data point is Xiaomi’s appearance on the chart. With a 0.4 percent share, Xiaomi’s XRING O1 processor makes its first visible impact despite being limited to only two products, the Xiaomi 15S Pro and Xiaomi Pad 7 Ultra. That such a small hardware footprint is enough to register in AnTuTu’s dataset suggests early volume traction and meaningful user adoption.

Xiaomi’s entry mirrors earlier moves by Apple, Google, and Samsung, where control over silicon is used to optimize performance tuning, power efficiency, and long term support. While XRING O1 remains far from a threat to established chip vendors, its presence signals Xiaomi’s intent to reduce reliance on third party suppliers over time, especially at the premium end.

We see this data as confirmation that the Android processor market in 2026 is consolidating rather than fragmenting. Qualcomm dominates by covering every price tier, MediaTek wins on volume where margins are thin, Samsung remains inward facing, and Xiaomi is testing the waters of vertical integration. For consumers, this means most Android phones will continue to offer predictable performance characteristics, while meaningful differentiation will increasingly come from software optimization, battery tuning, and long term update support rather than raw benchmark leadership alone.