A new report from Counterpoint Research shows that the iPhone 17 surpassed the iPhone 17 Pro Max and became the world’s best-selling smartphone in the first three months of 2026. Here are the details.
iPhone claims four places in Counterpoint’s global top 10
Last month, Counterpoint Research released its global rankings of the top 10 best-selling smartphones for the fourth quarter of 2025, showing the iPhone 17 Pro Max accounting for 5% of global sales, followed by the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 16.
This follows the company’s Q3 2025 ranking, where the iPhone 17 Pro Max debuted at #10 just weeks after its release.
Now, preliminary data for the first quarter of 2026 places the iPhone 17 in the lead with a 6% share of global smartphone sales, followed by the iPhone 17 Pro Max and iPhone 17 Pro completing the top three.
The top 10 continues with the Samsung Galaxy A07 4G and Galaxy A17 5G, followed by the iPhone 16, the Samsung Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36, the Galaxy A17 4G and Xiaomi’s Redmi A5 which close the list.
Although Counterpoint didn’t disclose the device sales share beyond the iPhone 17’s 6%, it’s notable that the top three stand out significantly from the rest of the list. They noted, however, that “the top 10 smartphones contributed 25% of global unit sales, the highest concentration ever recorded in the first quarter.”
Here’s Counterpoint principal analyst Harshit Rastogi on Apple’s performance for the quarter:
“The iPhone 17 continues to outperform its predecessor with key improvements such as higher base storage, camera resolution, screen refresh rate that brings the smartphone closer to the Pro variants and delivers overall value to a larger market. The smartphone recorded double-digit year-over-year growth in key markets like China, the US and 3x in South Korea for the quarter. Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro Max and Pro captured both spots following, offering even more advanced capabilities in terms of camera, battery and new colors, materials and finishes.
Counterpoint also noted that while Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra narrowly missed the top 10, the device saw stronger initial sales than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, with its privacy display and AI feature upgrades standing out as strong points.
Also missing from the rankings was the iPhone Air, which was also missing from the Q4 2025 list.
To view Counterpoint Research’s full report on global smartphone sales for Q1 2026, follow this link.
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