iPhone 17 Named World’s Best-Selling Smartphone for Second Straight Quarter Despite Market Slump 2026

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s iPhone 17 was the world’s best-selling smartphone in the second quarter of 2026, extending its lead for a second consecutive quarter even as the broader global smartphone market contracted, according to new data from Counterpoint Research.

The base iPhone 17 captured 6% of all global smartphone unit sales during the April-to-June period, according to Counterpoint’s Global Handset Model Sales Tracker. Apple didn’t just take the top spot — the company swept the entire podium, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro finishing second and third, respectively.

A clean sweep for Apple

Apple’s dominance extended well beyond the top three positions. The company secured five of the top 10 spots on Counterpoint’s list, with the iPhone 17e ranking seventh and the iPhone 16 rounding out the list in tenth place. Samsung claimed the remaining five spots in the top 10, led by its Galaxy S26 Ultra, which ranked as the best-selling Android smartphone of the quarter.

Together, Apple and Samsung’s combined share of the top 10 accounted for 26% of all global smartphone unit sales, up two percentage points from a year earlier and marking the highest concentration ever recorded for a June quarter, according to Counterpoint.

Growth against a shrinking market

What makes Apple’s performance particularly notable is the backdrop against which it occurred. The overall global smartphone market declined 11% year-over-year during the quarter, yet Apple’s unit sales still managed to grow.

“Apple’s unit sales grew 5% YoY despite a broader market decline,” Karn Chauhan, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said in the firm’s report.

Chauhan pointed to strength in several key regions as a driver of that growth. “iPhone sales increased across India, Japan, and the MEA, and nearly doubled in South Korea in Q2 2026, driven by the iPhone 17 series,” he said, using an abbreviation for the Middle East and Africa region.

Why the base model keeps winning

According to Counterpoint’s analysis, much of the base iPhone 17’s continued success stems from upgrades that narrowed the traditional performance gap between Apple’s standard and Pro model lineups, making the entry-level device a more compelling purchase relative to its pricier siblings. At the same time, strong demand for the premium iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max models was reinforced by trade-in programs, promotional offers and more accessible financing options that made the higher-end phones easier for consumers to afford.

Counterpoint also noted that rising prices across the broader smartphone industry, driven in part by a global shortage of memory chips, have pushed some consumers toward higher-end devices they might not have previously considered, a trend the firm said has further strengthened Apple’s competitive position. As some of Apple’s closest rivals raised prices to cope with the same component shortage, the relative value proposition of the iPhone 17 lineup became more attractive by comparison, according to 9to5Mac’s reporting on the Counterpoint data.

The iPhone 17e’s role

Beyond the flagship and Pro models, Apple’s budget-friendly iPhone 17e also helped reinforce the company’s broad presence on the sales charts. Analysts noted that the model’s addition of MagSafe wireless charging support and higher base storage at the same price point as its predecessor, combined with carrier promotions, helped it maintain strong appeal in key markets such as the United States and Japan.

A pattern building since launch

Thursday’s report builds on a trend Counterpoint had already flagged earlier this year. The base iPhone 17 was also named the world’s best-selling smartphone in the first quarter of 2026, a result that followed a typical pattern in which non-Pro iPhone models tend to gain sales momentum in the months following their initial launch. What stood out in the second-quarter data, however, was that the iPhone 17 not only maintained its lead but continued gaining ground, defying the usual seasonal patterns that can see interest cool as a device ages within its release cycle.

That continuity marks a shift from the prior year’s cycle. In the second quarter of 2025, it was the iPhone 16 — not a newer model — that topped Counterpoint’s rankings, having taken the lead in the first quarter of that year and extended its dominance through the summer ahead of the iPhone 17’s eventual launch. Apple also swept the podium that quarter, though it did not claim a fourth spot in the top 10, unlike this year’s performance.

Samsung holds its ground in the Android race

While Apple dominated the overall rankings, Samsung notched its own milestone within the Android segment. The Galaxy S26 Ultra’s position as the best-selling Android smartphone of the quarter marked the first time an ultra-premium Android device has led Android sales specifically during a June quarter, according to Counterpoint’s analysis, with the model climbing five spots compared with its predecessor’s performance in the prior year.

A market reshaped by scarcity

Counterpoint tied the historically high concentration of sales among the top 10 models directly to the ongoing global shortage of RAM and memory chips, which has forced smartphone makers across the industry to narrow their focus toward a smaller number of premium and high-volume models rather than spreading resources across a wide range of devices. That dynamic appears to have benefited established players like Apple and Samsung disproportionately, as consumers gravitated toward well-known, well-supported flagship options amid rising costs and constrained supply chains.

What it means going forward

With Apple’s next major iPhone launch already on the horizon and the current generation continuing to outperform a contracting global market, the company heads into the second half of 2026 with clear momentum. Whether that momentum continues once newer models — including a widely rumored foldable iPhone — enter the market later this year remains to be seen, but for now, Counterpoint’s data makes clear that the iPhone 17 series has cemented itself as the dominant force in global smartphone sales for two quarters running.