Shimul Sood / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Apple grew iPhone shipments by means of 1.3% in Q1 2026 at the same time as the whole US smartphone marketplace dropped 5.7%, in line with Counterpoint Analysis.
- Android manufacturers took a miles larger hit, with US smartphone gross sales falling 14.4% yr over yr.
- Samsung’s behind schedule Galaxy S26 release left a top class telephone hole in January and February, and Apple temporarily capitalized on it, the analysis suggests.
Apple is doing one thing Android manufacturers would fairly no longer speak about presently. iPhone shipments grew within the first quarter of 2026 after completing 2025 as the arena’s most sensible smartphone emblem with regards to devices shipped. That is although the United States smartphone marketplace shrank.
Counterpoint Analysis’s newest information for Q1 2026 presentations that general US smartphone gross sales declined 5.7% year-over-year (YoY). However, Apple nonetheless controlled to develop its gross sales by means of 1.3%. For those who’re an Android fan, the numbers are even worse: Android gross sales in the United States fell 14.4% over the similar duration.
The primary quarter is normally a tussle between Apple’s growing old iPhone cycle and Samsung’s glossy new flagships. This yr, the script used to be flipped. Samsung has postponed the release of the Galaxy S26 collection to mid-March. That one month lengthen created a top class vacuum, which Apple used to be very happy to fill.
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Without a new Galaxy flagship to scouse borrow the highlight in January and February, customers in a position for an improve simply walked into service shops and walked out with an iPhone 17.
The massive US carriers’ numbers inform a dominant tale: Apple took over. The tech massive’s proportion of smartphone gross sales at Verizon hit a large 77% in Q1. To position that during viewpoint, that implies that 3 out of each 4 telephones bought at Large Purple had a lightning bolt, er, USB-C port, and an Apple emblem on them.
Counterpoint stated Apple performed the promotional sport arduous, beating Samsung on “promotional energy” for gadgets priced above $600. Whilst Android OEMs are struggling with emerging element prices, Apple has controlled to stay its pricing for entry-level fashions just like the iPhone 17e strong, even doubling the bottom garage to 256GB.
It isn’t all doom and gloom for Android fanatics. Motorola and Samsung did see some expansion, after all, within the pay as you go and the nationwide retail areas (Walmart, Goal) however the high-end postpaid house is an Apple fort this present day.
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