We all know Apple won the global smartphone vendor war last year, and then the first three months of 2026 saw the Cupertino-based market leader fight tooth and nail against Samsung to retain that crown, but if you were wondering how the gap between the world’s two most popular mobile platforms looks, you had to wait until today for Counterpoint Research to publish its latest study on the matter.
At first glance, this is hardly surprising, revealing that Android continues to hold a comfortable (and logical) advantage over iOS, but look a little closer at the numbers compiled for this year’s opening quarter, and you’ll undoubtedly notice a few key changes compared to Q1 2025.
When 73 percent of sales is a disappointing result
That’s right, I don’t think Android smartphone vendors will be particularly pleased with their combined share of Q1 2026 sales, and Counterpoint researchers seem to agree with me, pointing out that 73 percent represents the operating system’s lowest ever tally for a January-March timeframe.
iOS will not threaten Android’s crown anytime soon, but Apple can still be very happy with this graph. | Image by Counterpoint Research
The score is not only significantly lower than Android’s Q1 2025 share, but its Q2 and Q3 2025 results as well, although for what it’s worth, it at least improves on the platform’s Q4 2025 slice of the pie (which was, however, also lower than its score from Q4 2024).
In short, Android smartphone sales are clearly slipping around the world, and even if we’re not talking huge declines that can put Apple in a position to grab the top mobile OS spot anytime soon, this kind of steady decline must be a cause for great concern for Google and its biggest hardware-making partners.
The iPhone 17 series is (naturally) the key iOS growth driver
After crucially contributing to the platform’s remarkable Q4 2025 score of 24 percent, the iPhone 17, 17 Pro, and 17 Pro Max are unsurprisingly declared the biggest stars of Q1 2026 as well, keeping iOS impressively stable compared to last year’s holiday quarter, at 22 percent.
Apple has definitely hit it out of the park with the iPhone 17 family. | Image by PhoneArena
If those numbers don’t impress you much, it’s important to remember that iOS is a one-vendor platform, while the Android ecosystem consists of dozens and dozens of big and small companies and brands spread across the world.
Obviously, that makes it virtually impossible for Apple to ever catch up to the most successful mobile operating system out there, so closing the gap from 57 percentage points in early 2025 to only 51 now is already a great triumph for the Cupertino-based tech giant.
The early popularity of the iPhone 17e and the late Galaxy S26 series launch certainly helped Apple’s Q1 2026 progress as well, but it remains to be seen if Android will be able to widen its advantage yet again in Q2 and Q3.
Some of those regional numbers are also pretty interesting
Did you know that only 63 percent of smartphones sold in China run Android? That doesn’t mean Apple holds a 37 percent share in the world’s biggest mobile market, mind you, because China is (of course) the only key region where the number three global player is truly relevant.
That’s a super-tight battle for the silver medal, and a shrinking advantage for China’s top mobile OS. | Image by Counterpoint Research
We’re talking about Huawei’s HarmonyOS, which actually managed to edge out iOS on home soil during the first three months of this year on its way to a 5 percent share around the world.
Meanwhile, iOS holds a relatively comfortable advantage of 18 percentage points over Android in Apple’s domestic market, but I expected that to be even larger after a recent Counterpoint Research report put Apple’s lead at no less than 50 percent (!!!) in sales across the big three US carriers.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess the number one mobile OS in the US, but Android is not that far behind iOS. | Image by Counterpoint Research
Evidently, Samsung and Motorola are doing a lot better at smaller mobile operators and other US sales channels, and the same goes for markets like India, where Android’s share sits at a mind-blowing 90 percent… which, believe it or not, still represents a decline from 92 percent in Q1 2025.
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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’.
