Apple’s Smartphone Share Reaches 22% as Global Shipments Fall

Apple’s share of global smartphone shipments reached 22% in the third quarter of 2026, a record for that period, even though its iPhone shipments fell.

The global market shipped 20% fewer phones than a year earlier, its lowest quarterly total since 2012.

Samsung had a slightly larger share, at 23%, while Apple’s share rose partly because the overall market shrank faster than its shipments.

Apple supplied fewer new phones to stores because the standard iPhone 18 did not launch alongside the Pro models in September, but the Pro models had a stronger debut than the previous generation and demand for the iPhone 17 continued.

Apple’s shipments fell less than China’s market overall: separate figures put Apple’s decline there at 4.3%, against a 15.4% drop for the country’s smartphone market.

Rising memory-chip costs are making phones more expensive, and estimates put global smartphone retail prices up 20% so far this year.

Premium phones have proved more resilient than budget devices, but the figures do not say what Apple’s next shipment results will be.