Chinese smartphones are absent from the top best-selling phones globally

According to a report published by market research company Counterpoint, Apple still occupies the familiar leading three positions in the top 10, with iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max. The company also won 7th and 10th positions for iPhone 17e and iPhone 16.

Samsung also had great success when for the first time a high-end model, Galaxy S26 Ultra, ranked fourth next to low-cost models A07 4G, A17 4G and 5G versions, and Galaxy S26.

Apple and Samsung always dominate the rankings but there are usually still a few Chinese representatives. For example, in the first quarter of 2026, Xiaomi has Redmi A5 in 10th place, or in the second quarter of 2025, Redmi 14C is in 8th place.

Apple's standard smartphone line continues to show superiority when iPhone 17 leads all three recent quarters, accounting for 6% of global smartphone sales, higher than the iPhone 16's 4% in the same period last year. Apple and Samsung also dominate Chinese brands when accounting for 26% of sales compared to 24% in the same period last year.

Counterpoint believes that Apple will grow well thanks to purchasing power in regions outside the company's usual core markets such as India, Japan, the Middle East and Africa. In Korea, new iPhone sales almost doubled compared to the same period last year.

Smartphone prices have continuously increased over the past year, pushing buyers to higher segments. This benefits Apple because its products are already in the high-end segment. This may also be the reason Samsung's S26 Ultra sold well and was once rare in fourth place.

Not only decreasing market share, Chinese companies are also the reason why the overall smart market decreased in sales by 11% in the last quarter. The decline is said to be due to a shortage of memory chips, increased product prices and companies such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo having to change their strategy to focus resources on expensive, more profitable models.

Tuan Hung