Although the Galaxy S26 series was widely considered a global bestseller in many smartphone market reports published during the first few months of availability of Samsung's latest (non-foldable) high-end handset family, the newest study put together by Counterpoint Research doesn't mention the Android flagship trio once.
This is focused entirely on the US market rather than the entire world, and somewhat surprisingly, it appears to conflict with the data compiled by the same analytics firm for the same region in the exact same timeframe and released to the public just a few weeks ago.
US shipments actually went up in Q2 2026
That's at least according to these latest estimates, which put the market at a 6 percent higher shipment total than at the end of last year's second calendar quarter. Earlier this month, Q2 2026 US smartphone sales were said to be 5 percent lower than the Q2 2025 tally, but believe it or not, both results can be true at the same time.
Will Samsung ever be able to catch up to Apple in the US market?
That's because sales and shipments are not the same thing, and while it's entirely possible that end users purchased fewer smartphones stateside between April and June of this year compared to the same period of 2025, it's also extremely likely that device manufacturers shipped more units to carriers, retailers, and other distributors.
Why would smartphone makers do that and risk not selling everything they ship? Simple: because of the recent industry-wide component cost increases, which are only expected to get worse in the coming months. Basically, the likes of Samsung and Apple are doing everything they can to delay (further) hiking their product prices for as long as possible.
Samsung was the nation's top grower
... but not its top vendor. Not even close. Both in US sales and shipments, Apple continues to hold a massive lead over its arch-rival, but the Cupertino-based tech giant is unlikely to be happy to see its domestic share of smartphone shipments slip from 67 percent (!!!) in Q4 2025 and 58 percent in Q1 2026 to "only" 54 percent now.
Recommended For You
Apple's numbers might be down, but more than one in two smartphones shipped in the US are still iPhones. | Image by Counterpoint Research
That's the same number Apple scored between April and June 2025, but Samsung is not just up from Q4 2025 and Q1 2026. Instead, the silver medalist's 30 percent slice of the Q2 2026 US smartphone shipment pie represents a nice improvement from 27 percent in Q2 2025 as well, with the driving force behind that jump being... the Galaxy A17 5G.
Yes, Samsung is apparently stockpiling its most affordable US handset, fully aware that another price hike from $249.99 would be more damaging for the company's overall regional sales figures than an increase for the Galaxy S26, S26 Plus, S26 Ultra, Z Fold 8, or Z Fold 8 Ultra.
Check out these other news stories about the smartphone market:
Unfortunately for the search giant and fortunately for the Lenovo-owned mobile industry veteran, we're talking about marginal changes for the third and fourth-largest smartphone vendors stateside.
Yes, Motorola's US smartphone shipments market share has declined from 12 percent in Q2 2025 to 11 percent a year later, while Google's slice of the pie has expanded from 2 to 3 percent in the same period of time.
The Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro are probably not monumental flops, but they're not big box-office hits either. | Image by PhoneArena
But no, these aren't the kind of changes that should give hardcore Google fans a lot of hope that the Pixel line will break into the mainstream anytime soon or that should make Motorola fans worry about their favorite brand's future in the US smartphone market.
Still, it must be a little disappointing (I know I certainly feel that way) to see Motorola's numbers drop (albeit marginally) after a couple of years of pretty steady growth, not to mention Google's plunge from 7 percent back in Q3 2025.
Trade in your old phone for cash at ecoATM!
Recycle your used phone and get instant cash. Find out how at ecoATM!
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'.
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts:
New accounts created within the last 24 hours may experience restrictions on how frequently they can
post or comment.
These limits are in place as a precaution and will automatically lift.
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
Things that are NOT allowed:
To help keep our community safe and free from spam, we apply temporary limits to newly created accounts: