April 10 (Reuters) - IPhone-maker Apple led global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2026, growing 5% year-on-year, even as overall shipments fell due to a shortage of memory components, Counterpoint Research said on Friday.
Global smartphone shipments fell 6% from a year earlier as Middle East tensions also weighed on consumer sentiment, the research firm said.
* Apple led the smartphone market for the first time in afirst quarter with a 21% market share, Counterpoint said. * The firm attributed the growth to Apple's premiumpositioning, integrated supply chain and performance in China. * The iPhone maker posted a 23% surge in China smartphonesales in the first nine weeks of 2026. * Samsung's shipments declined 6% year-on-year in thequarter, giving it a 20% market share, as a delayed Galaxy S26launch and weakness in the entry-tier segment weighed onvolumes, the research firm said. * Xiaomi maintained its third spot with a 13% share, butdropped the most among the top five brands, according to thereport. * The decline in overall shipments "is primarily driven bymemory players prioritizing AI data centers over consumerelectronics," Counterpoint analyst Shilpi Jain said.
(Reporting by Ananya Palyekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
Apple Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture and marketing of computer hardware and music supports. Net sales break down by family of products and services as follows:
- telephone products (50.4%): iPhone brand;
- peripheral devices (8.6%): screens, storage systems, printers, video camera, memory cards, server, switches, etc.;
- computers (8.1%): laptops (MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro brands) and PCs (iMac, Mac mini, Mac Pro and Xserve);
- music support (6.7%): music readers iPod and iPad and accessories;
- other (26.2%): software, maintenance service and Internet access service, etc.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: Americas (42.8%), China/Hong Kong/Taiwan (15.5%), Japan (6.9%), Asia/Pacific (8.1%), and Europe/India/Middle East/Africa (26.7%).
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