European sales of smartphones have reached a new three-year low, but Apple's iPhone has increased its share to now tie with Samsung.
Globally, the most recent figures show that Apple has earned 49% of all smartphone revenue in the second quarter, despite the iPhone only accounting for 23% of shipments. New figures for solely the European region show an overall decline, but in that shrinking market, Apple is increasing its share.
According to Counterpoint Research, Q2 2026 saw shipments fall 10% year over year. At 35 million smartphones, this is Europe's weakest second quarter in three years.
Most vendors have also seen a decline in their market share, except for Apple. In Q2 2026 compared to the same time in 2025:
- Apple grew from 25% to 34%
- Samsung grew from 31% to 34%
- Xiaomi dropped from 19% to 15%
- Oppo dropped from 6% to 4%
- Honor dropped from 4% to 3%
- All others dropped from 14% to 11%
Reportedly, consumers are hesitant to make discretionary purchases because of the economic situation. Then manufacturers have seemingly cut promotions in order to protect their margins.
"In Q2 2026, things were relatively better in Western Europe," said Counterpoint associate director Jan Stryjak where a very impressive quarter by Apple and marginal growth by Samsung softened the drop."
Europe Smartphone Shipments Share by OEM, Q2 2025 vs Q2 2026 - image credit: Counterpoint Research.
There's no further detail in the new report, so it isn't possible to determine which iPhones models are selling the best. However, across Western Europe, premium smartphone sales are reportedly trending upwards, which benefits Apple.
But then across Eastern Europe, the reverse is true and there is a greater trend toward lower-end Chinese models.
Over the whole of Europe, the report claims that inventory is running out. While the report doesn't specify this, that's because of the global chip shortage and the rising price of components.
Despite predicting declines for most brands, especially lower-end ones, the report still expects Apple to significantly outperform its smartphone rivals for the foreseeable future.
If the trend to premium models continues in Western Europe, Apple may benefit from launching the iPhone Ultra in September 2026. That's expected to start at $2,000, and at least one analyst expects sales of around 14 million across fiscal year 2027.
