Apple has emerged as the world's top smartphone brand by shipments in the first quarter of 2026, according to new data from Counterpoint Research. It's the first time the company has led the market in a first quarter. Apple accounted for 21% of global shipments and saw a 9% year-on-year increase, even as the overall market shrank by 3%.
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Samsung came in second place, also with 21%, with its shipments remaining almost stable, followed by Xiaomi with 12%, OPPO with 10% and vivo with 7%.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi's shipments fell 19% year-on-year, while OPPO and vivo saw declines of 4% and 2% respectively. Apple's brand-level milestone follows Counterpoint's previous finding that the iPhone 17 was the world's best-selling mobile phone model in the first quarter, during which the iPhone 17 series took the top three spots in the company's Global Mobile Model Sales Index.
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During Apple's earnings call on April 30, CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone 17 family was the most popular series in Apple's history. In addition to continued demand for the iPhone 17, Counterpoint attributed Apple's brand-level performance to its proactive supply chain management, as well as improved sales in China. The company said Apple's ability to maintain high prices and protect its profit margins has also helped it better than its competitors to cope with the ongoing memory shortage.
DRAM and NAND shortages continue to weigh on the market overall as chipmakers prioritize AI data center customers over mobile phone makers. Cook has said that memory shortages and rising prices will hit Apple harder later in 2026.
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Counterpoint expects the rest of the year to affect most brands in a similar way, with the memory crisis likely to last until the end of 2027.
