Apple captured 65% of the global premium smartphone market in the first half of 2026, as the wider premium segment's share of overall smartphone sales climbed to a record 29%.
Article Link: Apple Captures 65% of Global Premium Smartphone Market
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Captures 65% of Global Premium Smartphone Market
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple captured 65% of the global premium smartphone market in the first half of 2026, as the wider premium segment's share of overall smartphone sales climbed to a record 29%.
BvizioN
macrumors 603
Do people still use the infamous “Apple is doomed” line around here? 😀
As much as Apple is making profit, it doesn’t excuse Apple Intelligence and Siri, I’m not giving Apple a pass for playing catch-up from years ago, A lot of regular users don’t even know what Apple Intelligence is
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
These figures are a stark contrast to the figures that Android pundits usually trot out, simply comparing iOS market share to Android market share while ignoring the cost of the different handsets, which generally show something like iOS having less than 30 percent of the worldwide market, compared to Android's 60 or 70 percent.
To wit: dropping the el-cheapo Android phones from the equation basically flips the numbers on end... demonstrating yet again that statistics can be twisted around and manipulated to show practically anything you want, simply by deciding what to include and what to ignore.
To wit: dropping the el-cheapo Android phones from the equation basically flips the numbers on end... demonstrating yet again that statistics can be twisted around and manipulated to show practically anything you want, simply by deciding what to include and what to ignore.
Oh well, that includes all iPhones... - ...easy statistics! 🤣
I wouldn’t say Apple looks to be doomed, but any company can fall rather quickly from great heights with a few anti-customer decisions. Apple is not immune.
klasma
macrumors G5
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
Most people wouldn't dream of making such ludicrous claims today... I believe the reference is more directed at legacy journalists, who all too frequently echoed some variation of this sentiment in op-eds for literally decades. It got so bad at one point that The Mac Observer used to keep track of the trope in their "Apple Death Knell Counter" series, and tallied 71 high profile articles which prematurely predicting Apple's demise. An interesting analysis of those entries can be found here: Codinhood - Apple Doomsayers
(Edit: For my initial search on this topic, AI tried to claim that there were over 700 articles, but revised the figure when I asked for a source; thus, that appears to have been a hallucination. 71 is the correct number.)
Last edited:
Just read the comments here. There are still many regulars who find any reason to be bearish on Apple. This article, though, is some good news for Apple shareholders. Apple is holding strong in the affluent market–people with the discretionary budget to buy services.
Good for Apple. With the upcoming fold, expecting Apple to gain significant market share in the foldable phone segment too.
maybe not a lot of people care about the AI trend. Proof is in apples profits and marketshare is up. The online community is in the minority.
H.E. Pennypacker
macrumors 65816
iPhone ultra will crush sales and introduce foldables as mainstream products after year 1 and capture 80% of the market in that category.
Yes, every day. A forum tradition going back many years. Apparently it helps some people to feel better when they can stick it to Apple.
BvizioN
macrumors 603
Absolutely Agree. Look at the legends of 2 decades ago, BB and Nokia. They thought they were untouchable.
SactoGuy18
macrumors 603
I still say that Oppo, the company that had sold OnePlus phones in the US market, should seriously consider selling Oppo-branded phones for the North American market but running a "pure" version of Android instead of Oppo's own Color OS.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Nehalem
More market share eventually means .... you know what!
😉
(looking at you, all my friends in our EU debate threads)
😉
(looking at you, all my friends in our EU debate threads)
Attirex
macrumors 65816
iPhones are now like the Dodge Charger - looks fancy/"high end" but actually screams "I'm 30 years old and in debt for this and broke AF"
Mousse
macrumors 601
These 🍆 measuring contests are meaningless to me. I only care that my phone works well.
There are lies, damn lies and statistics.😏
I take these pissing contest claims with an unhealthy dose of salt.
AssassuN
macrumors regular
happening to playstation right now (hopefully)
I7guy
macrumors Westmere
Absolutely. It’s not outside of the realm of probability that Apple could fall or fail. And while I can’t prove it statistically I believe I have a better chance of winning the powerball lottery.
shinkansenwarrior
macrumors 6502
AssassuN
macrumors regular
Yeah while not impossible, Apple is massive and "too big to fail" is definitely a real thing. They would have to keep sleeping at the wheel for years in all their product categories to fail.
Blackberry and Nokia were never big enough to be "too big to fail."
zarmanto
macrumors 65816
Crackberry was close... at one time. Then the iPhone happened.
And Nokia was actually only a little bit behind Blackberry. Then Microsoft bought them... because of the iPhone.
"Too big to fail" only works when there's not somebody even bigger to knock you off of your pedestal. (But perhaps I'm just ignoring the fact that both of those companies were technically bigger than Apple was... at the time.)