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Apple continues to solidify its position as a tech powerhouse, with impressive gains in market share across its product lineup. According to Counterpoint Research data comparing Q1 2025 to Q1 2026, the company is expanding its influence in both volume shipments and high-value revenue segments. This performance underscores Apple’s strategy of premium positioning, ecosystem lock-in, and innovation that drives upgrades and loyalty.

Apple posted gains in most major categories by shipment volume:

• Rose from 34% to 37% global share, reinforcing its lead in the tablet market.
• Climbed from 20% to 23%, extending its commanding presence in smartwatches.
• Increased from 19% to 21%, highlighting strong demand for the iPhone 17 series and broader market momentum.
• Improved from 12% to 14%, benefiting from professional and creative user demand.
• Held steady near the top at around 20-21%, maintaining a robust position in wireless audio.

These volume increases reflect Apple’s ability to capture more unit sales even in competitive categories, driven by product refreshes and expanding appeal in emerging markets.

Apple’s strength shines even brighter when looking at revenue share, where its high-average-selling-price (ASP) strategy pays dividends:

• Surged from 54% to 60% — a dominant lead in premium tablets.
• Jumped from 43% to 48%, cementing its role as the profit engine.
• Edged up from 37% to 38%.
• Slightly dipped from 40% to 35% but remains a major contributor.
• Increased from 28% to 22%, possibly due to broader market dynamics or mix shifts.

Overall, Apple’s revenues showed strong year-over-year growth in recent quarters – fueled by both hardware and especially services expansion.

Apple’s gains aren’t accidental. The iPhone 17 series has driven upgrades, while wearables and tablets benefit from seamless integration with the broader ecosystem. Services (not detailed in these segment charts but a growing revenue pillar) add recurring high-margin income that boosts overall profitability.In a maturing smartphone market, Apple’s focus on quality, privacy, performance, and ecosystem stickiness allows it to grow share where others fight for volume. Mac and iPad continue to appeal to creators and professionals, while Watch and AirPods expand the “Apple user” footprint.

With WWDC 2026 spotlighting AI advancements and software enhancements, Apple is well-positioned to sustain this momentum. Challenges like competition in China or potential economic headwinds remain, but the data paints a picture of a company strengthening its moat.
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Apple isn’t just selling products — it’s selling an interconnected experience that customers value highly. These market share gains signal continued leadership in the premium tech space for the foreseeable future.

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/06/12/apples-dominance-deepens-with-global-market-share-gains-across-key-product-segments/

Apple just announced watchOS 27, and it’s delivering a wakeup call for many owners of older Apple Watch models. The upcoming update will only run on the Apple Watch SE 3, Series 9–11, Ultra 2, and Ultra 3 — leaving the original 2022 Ultra, SE 2, and earlier Series models without the new redesigned app grid, upgraded Siri, and other features.

Even Apple’s premium rugged flagship from just a few years ago gets only three major OS updates before being cut off, highlighting the company’s increasingly aggressive hardware cutoff strategy. If you own one of the unsupported watches, this fall’s update means no new software features — though basic functionality will continue.

Sam Byford for Fast Company:
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The first came out in 2022, so it will have received only three operating system upgrades over the course of its entire life cycle. And this wasn’t a throwaway product — it was Apple’s first significant expansion of the Watch lineup, coming with an all-new design and a $799 price tag. Mine is still going strong; I wasn’t particularly tempted to upgrade to the Ultra 2 or 3.

But now Apple is rendering it obsolete. WatchOS 27 is a fairly significant update, bringing a redesigned app grid and the new version of Siri, and it won’t be coming to the Ultra.

The reason is almost certainly the chip. The original Ultra used Apple’s S8 system-in-package, which actually used the exact same CPU as the S7 and S6 before it. In other words, the Ultra launched with a two-year-old chip.

That wasn’t much of a problem at the time, and really, it hasn’t been much of a problem today… But when the 2 arrived in 2023 alongside the Series 9, the two new watches did bring a meaningful silicon jump. Their S9 chip included a faster GPU, a new Neural Engine, and support for features like on-device Siri processing and a system-level gesture invoked by double-tapping your thumb and finger together.

Given that the Apple Watch Series 9 is also receiving watchOS 27, it would seem that Apple is using that chip transition to mark a line in the sand and move forward with a new generation of hardware and software.

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Time to upgrade! Apple Watch uLtra turns four years old on September 23rd – an eon in tech time.

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Source link: https://macdailynews.com/2026/06/11/apple-drops-support-for-watchos-27-on-original-apple-watch-ultra-se-2-and-several-other-models/