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Counterpoint Research reports China's overall smartphone shipments fell 10% year-over-year in Q3 2026, marking a 14-year low. Apple's share rose 4.8 percentage points to 19.5%, moving it from sixth to second place behind Huawei, which gained 5.3 points to lead with 21.3%. Vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, and HONOR all lost share during the quarter.
Counterpoint Research's Q3 2026 report shows global PC shipments fell 21% year-over-year to 57 million units, with every major vendor except Apple and ASUS seeing sharper declines. Apple's shipments dropped 11% to 5.6 million units, lifting its market share to 9.8% from 8.7% a year earlier, with Counterpoint crediting the MacBook Neo for cushioning the decline.
Counterpoint Research reported that worldwide PC shipments dropped 21 percent year-over-year in Q3 2026, ending a two-year growth streak, with IDC and Omdia issuing similar findings. The firm attributed the slump to rising prices for RAM, SSDs, and chips from Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm, which pushed up costs on products ranging from MacBooks to Raspberry Pis. Smartphone shipments also hit a 14-year low in the same quarter.
Counterpoint's Q3 data shows global PC shipments dropped to 57 million units from over 70 million a year earlier, a 21 percent year-over-year decline and a 13.8 percent drop from the prior quarter. The firm forecasts a roughly 27 percent year-over-year decline for Q4 and expects weak conditions to persist into 2027. Lenovo remains the top vendor despite a 23 percent decline, HP fell 31 percent, Dell dropped 25 percent, while Apple slipped only 11 percent, gaining relative market share.
Counterpoint Research reports smartphone shipments dropped 20% year-over-year in Q3, the weakest third quarter since 2012, as DRAM and NAND price surges pushed retail phone prices up 20% this year. Despite falling shipment volumes, Samsung and Apple both grew market share, with Samsung reaching 23% and Apple hitting 22%—its highest-ever Q3 share—even before releasing the base iPhone 18.
Counterpoint Research reports worldwide smartphone shipments dropped 20% in the third quarter of 2026, the lowest level since 2012, as a shortage of DRAM and NAND chips pushed phone prices up roughly 20% this year. Samsung and Apple both gained market share—23% and 22% respectively—but each still saw shipments decline year-over-year, while Samsung raised Galaxy S26 prices by $100 and Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro line launched $100 higher than its predecessor.
Counterpoint Research reports Apple captured 22% of global smartphone shipments in Q3 2026, up from 18% a year earlier, even as total industry shipments fell 20% year-over-year to their lowest third-quarter level in 14 years. Samsung held the top spot with 23% share, while Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo all saw their shares decline. Apple's own shipment volume fell due to the lack of a base iPhone 18 model, though iPhone 18 Pro launched more strongly than its predecessor, especially in China and India.
Counterpoint Research forecasts that OLED notebook display shipments will rise 50% in 2026, partly driven by Apple's expected shift to OLED in next-generation MacBook Pro models. The firm projects advanced notebook displays overall will grow 11% even as the broader notebook display market shrinks 3%, with OLED's share of the advanced segment rising from 56% to 75% as MiniLED declines.
Counterpoint Research reports that Apple became the top-selling smartphone brand through European carriers in Q2 2026, with its share rising from 33% to 37% year-over-year while Samsung's fell from 39% to 34%. Overall European smartphone sales fell 8%, with carrier sales down 4% versus an 11% drop in the open market; vivo and Motorola also grew carrier sales by 90% and 27% respectively.
Counterpoint Research's China Weekly Smartphone Sell-Out Tracker found the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max drove Apple to a 33% share of China's smartphone market in Week 38, making it the top-selling brand. The Pro series saw 12% year-on-year sales growth in its first three days, reversing a 17% decline in overall Chinese smartphone sales since July.
Bloomberg reports Apple is building prototypes of a display-free wearable, described internally as a technology investigation, pairing a fabric strap with a sensor-and-computing unit focused on passive health monitoring. The project has backing from executives including Tim Cook and Eddy Cue, though Apple has not committed to shipping a product, and a launch could come as early as 2028.
Counterpoint Research reports that global AI glasses shipments grew 263% year over year in the first half of 2026, driven largely by cheaper display-less models like Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses, which made up 96% of all shipments. Meta captured 94% of that display-less segment, while AR-enabled glasses, though still a small niche, saw shipments jump 449% year over year, led by Rokid ahead of Meta.