Market research agency Counterpoint: Q2 global smartphone sales fell 11% year on year, Samsung and Apple (AAPL.US) still lead the market

The Zhitong Finance App learned that market research firm Counterpoint Research said on Monday that global smartphone sales fell 11% year-on-year in the second quarter of this year, while Apple (AAPL.US) and Samsung Electronics (SSNLF.US) continued to lead the market. Counterpoint said that between March and June this year, global smartphone shipments declined and hit the lowest level in the second quarter since 2013, as the shortage of memory chips worsened further.

Despite the overall market decline, Samsung has regained the number one position in the global smartphone market, accounting for 24% of the market share, mainly due to the sales performance of its flagship model, the Galaxy S26 series. Additionally, the Galaxy S26 Ultra became the “highlight” of the second quarter, mainly benefiting from its privacy display features and artificial intelligence (AI) features.

Counterpoint added, “At the same time, Samsung's vertically integrated industrial chain, expanding AI product portfolio, and refreshed product lineup have helped the company maintain growth despite weak demand in the entry-level and mid-tier markets.”

In contrast, Apple's smartphone shipments in the second quarter increased 3% year over year, accounting for 20% of the global market share at the end of the second quarter. Counterpoint said in a blog post: “This marks multiple consecutive quarters of year-on-year growth for the Apple brand, mainly due to the continued strong market performance of the iPhone 17 series. “The series continues to be the highest-selling smartphone model in the world, while demand in many key markets remains resilient.”

However, although Apple's overall performance is still strong, it still showed some weakness in the Chinese market, and shipments declined year-on-year. Counterpoint also said that market demand for Apple's older iPhone models has also weakened.

The rest of the top five in the world are Chinese brands Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo. All three manufacturers experienced a sharp year-on-year decline in shipments in the second quarter, mainly due to rising memory chip prices.