Apple And Huawei See Double-Digit Smartphone Growth As The Rest Of The Market Keeps Falling

Apple and Huawei seem to be doing okay in the smartphone market, as their global shipments have seen double-digit gains compared to the previous year. However, the same cannot be said about the rest, as the rest of the smartphone industry saw its ninth consecutive week of declining sales.

Apple And Huawei Pull Ahead As RAM Shortages Keep Pressuring The Rest Of The Smartphone Market

In a new report from Counterpoint, iPhone sales increased by 10 percent year-over-year between May 11 and May 17 of this year. In contrast, the entire smartphone market was down by 8 percent. The report also mentions that it is the ninth consecutive week for the smartphone industry to see a downfall. Huawei, on the flip side, showed some real improvement, with a staggering 23 percent increase year-over-year in sales.

When it comes to the competition, Samsung saw a 1 percent decline, Oppo had a 10 percent fall, Xiaomi 17 percent, and Vivo 19 percent. Collectively, sales across all brands came down by 19 percent.

The research firm also pointed out that promotional activities in China and India made no impact on sales, as demand remained stiff. The increased prices and product launch realignments with aggressive cost optimization tactics are the reason for the decline, which companies had to implement in response to the RAM shortages.

The same reason will potentially cause the price of the iPhone 18 Pro to rise to at least $1,399 or higher, as per The Wall Street Journal. Here’s how the Research Director at Counterpoint portrays the issue.

“It is now clear that memory prices will remain high for the rest of 2026, and OEMs have adjusted the playbook. To navigate these pressures, they are now implementing a mix of price increases, product launch realignments, and aggressive cost-optimization tactics, including devices ‘cutting corners on different features’ and more efficient channel management.”

The reason why Apple and Huawei are ahead of the game is due to their “differences in supply chain stability and pricing execution capabilities” becoming more pronounced. However, Tim Cook has confirmed that a price hike for Apple products is “unavoidable,” and we could see the company implementing it this year.