Apple’s iPhone And Google Pixel Q2 Sales Shine Even As Global Smartphone Market Drops To 13-Year Low

• Global smartphone shipments plummeted 11% year-over-year in Q2 2026, driven by an intense shortage of DRAM and NAND memory chips.
• Samsung reclaimed the top global market position with a 24% share, while Apple secured a record 20% Q2 market share by avoiding price hikes.
• Google emerged as a major growth outlier, boosting its shipments by 16% year-over-year behind the success of its Pixel 10 series.

The global smartphone market experienced its steepest second-quarter slump in over a decade, though premium device makers Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) Google managed to outpace the broader industry decline.

According to preliminary data released on Monday by Counterpoint Research, global smartphone shipments tumbled 11% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2026. The drop marked the lowest second-quarter volume for the industry since 2013, fueled primarily by an intensifying global memory shortage.

Memory suppliers have increasingly prioritized artificial intelligence data centers over consumer electronics, causing DRAM and NAND flash prices to balloon. The resulting surge in component costs forced manufacturers to repeatedly raise prices on entry-level and mid-tier smartphones, pricing out budget-conscious consumers and stifling overall market demand.

While AAPL stock ended Monday’s session 0.63% higher, GOOGL shares closed 1.3% lower. At the time of writing, AAPL extended its gains in after-hours trading, edging 0.01% higher, while GOOGL stock slipped another 0.04%.

Apple Sets Q2 Record By Holding The Line On Prices

While mass-market brands struggled under the weight of inflated component costs, Apple capitalized on its premium positioning. The Cupertino, California-based tech giant saw its shipments grow 3% year-over-year, securing a historic 20% share of the second-quarter global market for the first time, according to Centerpoint.

Apple achieved this growth by remaining the only major manufacturer to avoid raising smartphone prices during the quarter. Demand was anchored by the flagship iPhone 17 series, which retained its title as the world's top-shipped device model.

Google Outpaces Market With Double-Digit Gains

Alphabet Inc.’s Google emerged as one of the quarter's biggest success stories, recording a robust 16% year-over-year jump in shipments.

Google’s gains were driven by strong consumer reception to its Pixel 10 and Pixel 10a devices across mature tech markets. By focusing heavily on premium features and software integration, Google managed to capture market share from competitors whose mid-range devices were heavily impacted by the semiconductor squeeze.

AAPL, GOOGL Stock: Retail View 

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits on Apple was ‘neutral’ with ‘normal’ message volumes and was ‘bearish’ for GOOGL stock. 

GOOGL stock gained 13.3% year-to-date while AAPL rose 16.5% during the same period. The Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) gained 21.5%. 

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