Apple is in the middle of a record-breaking year for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac lines
While so many other big tech companies are struggling to navigate rising component costs, Apple is reportedly looking at growth pretty much across the board in 2026.
It's almost starting to look like nothing can stop iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches from expanding, at least as far as market share is concerned.
Samsung doesn't stand a chance this year
If you've followed the quarterly and yearly estimations of global smartphone shipments published by analytics firms like Counterpoint, IDC, and Omdia, you already know how incredibly close (and exciting) the battle for supremacy between Samsung and Apple has been for quite some time now.
There were periods (including the first three months of 2026) when it seemed more adequate to declare the contest a draw rather than name a winner by a microscopic margin, but clearly, that's not going to be the case at the end of this year.
2026 is definitely not looking like a bad year for Apple... unlike so many other major tech companies. | Image by Counterpoint Research
That's because Apple's iPhone sales are projected to "remain flat" compared to 2025, which would typically not be great news for the Cupertino-based tech giant. But with "most" of the other top players looking at double-digit declines in their own handset shipment figures, Apple will definitely be delighted to keep its volumes largely unchanged and improve its market share from 23 to 25 percent.
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Although it's not clear if Samsung is one of the companies with a "double-digit" decrease around the corner, I highly doubt its slice of the pie will grow this year, so Apple is almost surely set to lead the smartphone market relatively comfortably in 2026... whether or not the foldable iPhone Ultra actually goes on sale by the end of the year.
Tablet market supremacy will be even easier to achieve
While iPhones haven't received price hikes... yet, iPads have just become costlier than ever before. You'd probably expect that to impact Apple's clear lead over all other tablet vendors, but incredibly enough, the company is somehow likely to boost both its volumes and share in this particular market.
Does Apple deserve to dominate all these industries?
Almost four in ten tablets sold around the world this year will reportedly be iPads, and although no model is singled out as a potential top seller, the M4-powered iPad Air duo is likely to prove exceptionally popular, followed by last year's iPad Pro (M5) powerhouses and the refreshed base iPad and iPad mini editions expected to come out by the end of 2026.
The Apple Watch and Mac families will hit lower but similarly impressive numbers
At first glance, the 12 percent market share tipped for Apple's computers this year pales in comparison with the aforementioned iPhone and iPad projections. But the Mac lineup only held a 9 percent share in 2025, so improving that number to 12 percent while expanding shipments by 23 percent would clearly be a major achievement, made even more remarkable by the laptop segment's expected decline of 11 percent.
The MacBook Neo should prove particularly successful, as will the Apple Watch SE 3 and Ultra 3 in a different market where the company is likely to jump from 20 percent share last year to 23 percent in 2026.
How could you not love the affordable Apple Watch SE 3? | Image by PhoneArena
Interestingly, Apple is expected to achieve record-breaking shares in the smartphone, tablet, and even laptop markets this year, but not as far as smartwatches are concerned. Another interesting detail is that, unlike smartphones and tablets, smartwatches are projected for 2026 volume growth over 2025.
Minimal growth of 1 percent, that is, but growth nonetheless, which can be easily explained by the fact that wearable devices are far less reliant on memory chips and thus likely to suffer a much smaller impact from price increases of such components. In other words, the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 may not be costlier than their predecessors.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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