Who gets the money
Samsung sold more phones than Apple last quarter. Apple took in three times as much money from them.
Same quarter, same market, measured two ways 👇
Share of the world's phones shipped, April–June 2026: • Samsung 23% • Apple 21%
Share of the money from phone sales: • Apple 49% • Samsung 16%
Why: an average phone sold for about $400 last quarter. Apple sells mostly expensive phones, while Samsung and the Chinese brands sell many cheaper ones. So Apple ships fewer phones and still takes in about half of all the money.
What the numbers are: Counterpoint Research's estimates, at wholesale prices. Phone sales only, not the whole company and not profit. Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and the rest make up the grey part. We worked that part out (100 minus Apple and Samsung); it is not a published figure.
The whole phone market took in a record $109 billion in the quarter, even though 7% fewer phones were shipped than a year earlier.
Sources: Counterpoint Research, Q2 2026 smartphone shipment share (Aug 2026) and revenue release (31 Jul 2026).
