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Highlights
- Apple was the top smartphone brand globally for the first quarter of calendar year 2026.
- Now, Samsung has overtaken Apple to claim that spot.
- The data has been shared by Counterpoint Research in its latest note.
Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks
Apple was the top smartphone brand globally for the first quarter of calendar year 2026. Now, Samsung has overtaken Apple to claim that spot. The data has been shared by Counterpoint Research in its latest note. Samsung, which sells globally, in almost every price range, has been able to become the global industry leader in Q2 2026. One of the reasons why is the rising memory costs.. Apple has had to increase price of several products. While the iPhones have not seen a price hike, the production has reportedly been slowed.
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Counterpoint Research even said that the rest of the year also looks very challenging for the smartphone and tech brands as memory costs are expected stay elevated. The research firm, in fact, shared that there could be a 14% decline in global smartphone shipments for the rest of the year. The price increase is also putting pressure on the e-commerce platforms, the retailers, and the consumers.
With the launch of the iPhone 17, Apple sold record breaking figures for the iPhone earlier this year (the first quarter). This helped the company in becoming the top brand globally. This was despite Samsung launching the Galaxy S26 5G series during the quarter. The Galaxy S26 Ultra model has been in demand since.
Regardless, Apple will not be too worried about this. Despite the ranking drop, Apple still managed to grow its market share and revenues during the second quarter of 2026. The company has also increased the price of products, so even if the sales volume goes down a little, the margins will remain intact for the company. Further, companies like Apple are not only reliant on hardware sales. They also focus software sales and commissions through the Apple App Store across the product ecosystem. To stay updated with the developments of the smartphone industry, keep reading TelecomTalk.
