Skip to main content

88 percent of the $800-plus smartphones sold last quarter were iPhones

It’s no secret that there are far more Android phones out there than iPhones, but it turns out that could have a little more to do with price ranges than previously thought. Why? Well, Apple globally sold a whopping 43 percent of all phones priced $400 or above in the second quarter of 2018. In other words, 43 percent of the people who can afford an iPhone are buying one — which is far more than the 20.45 percent market share that iOS holds overall.

The report comes from Counterpoint Research, which notes that on top of shipping 43 percent of phones above $400, Apple also swept up a massive 62 percent of the profits generated from smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2018. That’s way ahead of the likes of Samsung, which made 17 percent of the profits, as well as Huawei, with 8 percent, Oppo, with 5 percent, and Vivo, with 4 percent.

Recommended Videos

Perhaps most interesting are the so-called “premium” sales, which are defined as sales of smartphones that cost over $400. As mentioned, Apple held 43 percent of premium sales, beating out Samsung, which came in with 24 percent, and Oppo, which offered 10 percent. In the $400 to $600 range, Apple and Oppo were tied at 22 percent of sales, and in the $600 to $800 range Apple beat out Samsung with 44 percent of sales.

Apple shot ahead in the $800-plus range, selling a whopping 88 percent of phones.

According to Counterpoint, Samsung lagged a little more than expected in the second quarter of 2018. In particular, the company’s share in the $600 to $800 range was on the decline with fewer than expected sales of the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Of course, in general Samsung sells far more smartphones than Apple, but this latest report highlights the fact that those numbers are mostly focused in the sub-$400 range.

The news becomes even more interesting for Apple when we consider the fact that the second quarter of 2018 may well have been its worst quarter of the year. This was the quarter right before it launched a slew of new iPhones — so many customers would have been holding out to see what Apple released at its September 12 event.

So despite the fact that Apple only releases new phones once per year, it still commands a large percentage of the profits — and it’s unlikely that will slow in the near future.

Christian de Looper
Christian de Looper is a long-time freelance writer who has covered every facet of the consumer tech and electric vehicle…
This one iPadOS 26 feature has me excited for the iPhone Fold
Semi-open state of a foldable iPhone concept

Samsung is set to launch the seventh generation of its Galaxy Z Fold book-style folding phone this Summer, but its biggest rival is yet to show its folding phone hand. Apple has long been expected to unveil an iPhone Fold, and the latest rumors suggest that it will launch next year.

I’ve used almost every folding phone released globally, with some exceptions for extremely obscure ones. While I've always been curious what an iPhone Fold would look like, I was fairly certain that Apple shouldn't build it, as I wasn’t sure they could deliver on one necessary feature.

Read more
These three iOS 26 beta features are my favorite so far
The Liquid Design lock screen on the iOS 26 developer beta 1 running on the iPhone 16 Pro

For fans of the Apple ecosystem, it’s been an incredible week. Apple’s annual WWDC 2025 keynote revealed a whole new Liquid Glass design that’s unified across all its platforms. Also unified across all platforms is the numbering scheme, with iOS 26 designed to represent the year of release… plus one. 

The new platform doesn’t deliver one of the key things I asked for — multitasking, which is available on iPadOS 26 — but it does bring several new features that make the iPhone far more usable. 

Read more
Will my iPhone get iOS 26? Here’s every supported model
We've got the full list of iOS 26 supported devices - find out if you're getting the new iPhone update
iOS 26 features on a series of iPhone screens

Apple announced iOS 26 at WWDC 2025, and the new iPhone update comes with a fresh new 'Liquid Glass' look and plenty of features - and there are loads of iOS 26 supported devices, which is great news.

And no, you haven't missed a volley of updates since iOS 18 in 2024. Apple has skipped a bunch of numbers, so instead of giving us iOS 19 in 2025, we got iOS 26 alongside iPadOS 26, macOS 26, watchOS 26 and tvOS 26. In short, Apple's brought its operating system numbering into line. Nice.

Read more