Overview
- Counterpoint Research reported Tuesday that U.S. iPhone sales rose 1.3% year over year in Q1 2026 as overall smartphone sales fell 5.7% and Android shipments dropped 14.4%.
- At Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, iPhones made up 75% of device sales in the quarter, with Apple reaching 77% at Verizon, according to Counterpoint’s carrier channel data.
- Strong interest in the base iPhone 17 and holiday-quarter supply shortages that carried into early 2026 kept Apple’s upgrade cycle active, extending demand into Q1.
- Apple held the line on iPhone 17e pricing while boosting base storage to 256GB, and it outspent Samsung in postpaid promotions for phones priced $600 and up.
- Rising memory costs squeezed low-end devices and hurt smaller Android brands in prepaid channels like Cricket and Metro, shifting share to Samsung and Motorola and posing a cost risk that analysts say could persist into Q2 2026.