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Apple Takes Top Spot for First-Quarter Smartphone Sales, Data Shows

An attendee holds two iPhones 16 as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
An attendee holds two iPhones 16 as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
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Apple Takes Top Spot for First-Quarter Smartphone Sales, Data Shows

An attendee holds two iPhones 16 as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)
An attendee holds two iPhones 16 as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, US, September 9, 2024. (Reuters)

Apple took the top spot for global smartphone sales in the first quarter on the back of the iPhone 16e's launch and strong demand in countries such as Japan and India, data from Counterpoint Research showed on Monday.

Apple had 19% of the smartphone market, despite flat or declining sales in the US, Europe and China, followed by Samsung with 18% of the market, according to Counterpoint.

The data suggests iPhone demand remains strong in emerging markets, even as sales struggle in China due to competition from local players such as Huawei and a lack of AI features.

Separately, International Data Corporation, which primarily tracks shipments rather than sales to consumers, said global smartphone shipments rose 1.5% in the first quarter, with Apple front-loading supply to sidestep potential tariffs under US President Donald Trump.

Apple's shares were up around 3.5%.

Trump's back-and-forth tariffs and escalation of global trade tensions has resulted in global financial market turmoil for the past two weeks, a worsening economic outlook and the possibility of stronger inflation.

Apple had chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the United States from India in an effort to beat the tariffs.

However, Trump's decision to exclude smartphones, computers and some other electronics from the sweeping reciprocal duties on China led to a rise in global tech shares on Monday.

"The recent exemption by the US government pausing smartphone import tariffs from China offers temporary relief for US companies, but heavy reliance on China's supply chain persists amid ongoing tariff volatility," said Ryan Reith, group vice president, worldwide device trackers, IDC.

"Right now, the focus for US smartphone brands should be taking advantage of the exemption by building and shipping as much as possible."

Counterpoint, which expects the smartphone market to decline this year due to tariff-related uncertainty, said Xiaomi continued its sales momentum in third place, while Vivo took the fourth spot and OPPO was fifth.

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Technology

Meta Criticizes EU Antitrust Move Against WhatsApp Block on AI Rivals

(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
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Meta Criticizes EU Antitrust Move Against WhatsApp Block on AI Rivals

(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)
(FILES) This illustration photograph taken on December 1, 2025, shows the logo of WhatsApp displayed on a smartphone's screen, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP)

Meta Platforms on Monday criticized EU regulators after they charged the US tech giant with breaching antitrust rules and threaten to halt its block on ⁠AI rivals on its messaging service WhatsApp.

"The facts are that there is no reason for ⁠the EU to intervene in the WhatsApp Business API. There are many AI options and people can use them from app stores, operating systems, devices, websites, and ⁠industry partnerships," a Meta spokesperson said in an email.

"The Commission's logic incorrectly assumes the WhatsApp Business API is a key distribution channel for these chatbots."

Technology

Chinese Robot Makers Ready for Lunar New Year Entertainment Spotlight

A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
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Chinese Robot Makers Ready for Lunar New Year Entertainment Spotlight

A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)
A folk performer breathes fire during a performance ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations in a village in Huai'an, in China's eastern Jiangsu Province on February 7, 2026. (AFP)

In China, humanoid robots are serving as Lunar New Year entertainment, with their manufacturers pitching their song-and-dance skills to the general public as well as potential customers, investors and government officials.

On Sunday, Shanghai-based robotics start-up Agibot live-streamed an almost hour-long variety show featuring its robots dancing, performing acrobatics and magic, lip-syncing ballads and performing in comedy sketches. Other Agibot humanoid robots waved from an audience section.

An estimated 1.4 million people watched on the Chinese streaming platform Douyin. Agibot, which called the promotional stunt "the world's first robot-powered gala," did not have an immediate estimate for total viewership.

The ‌show ran a ‌week ahead of China's annual Spring Festival gala ‌to ⁠be aired ‌by state television, an event that has become an important - if unlikely - venue for Chinese robot makers to show off their success.

A squad of 16 full-size humanoids from Unitree joined human dancers in performing at China Central Television's 2025 gala, drawing stunned accolades from millions of viewers.

Less than three weeks later, Unitree's founder was invited to a high-profile symposium chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Hangzhou-based robotics ⁠firm has since been preparing for a potential initial public offering.

This year's CCTV gala will include ‌participation by four humanoid robot startups, Unitree, Galbot, Noetix ‍and MagicLab, the companies and broadcaster ‍have said.

Agibot's gala employed over 200 robots. It was streamed on social ‍media platforms RedNote, Sina Weibo, TikTok and its Chinese version Douyin. Chinese-language television networks HTTV and iCiTi TV also broadcast the performance.

"When robots begin to understand Lunar New Year and begin to have a sense of humor, the human-computer interaction may come faster than we think," Ma Hongyun, a photographer and writer with 4.8 million followers on Weibo, said in a post.

Agibot, which says ⁠its humanoid robots are designed for a range of applications, including in education, entertainment and factories, plans to launch an initial public offering in Hong Kong, Reuters has reported.

State-run Securities Times said Agibot had opted out of the CCTV gala in order to focus spending on research and development. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The company demonstrated two of its robots to Xi during a visit in April last year.

US billionaire Elon Musk, who has pivoted automaker Tesla toward a focus on artificial intelligence and the Optimus humanoid robot, has said the only competitive threat he faces in robotics is from Chinese firms.

Technology

AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
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AI to Track Icebergs Adrift at Sea in Boon for Science

© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP
© Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP

British scientists said Thursday that a world-first AI tool to catalogue and track icebergs as they break apart into smaller chunks could fill a "major blind spot" in predicting climate change.

Icebergs release enormous volumes of freshwater when they melt on the open water, affecting global climate patterns and altering ocean currents and ecosystems, reported AFP.

But scientists have long struggled to keep track of these floating behemoths once they break into thousands of smaller chunks, their fate and impact on the climate largely lost to the seas.

To fill in the gap, the British Antarctic Survey has developed an AI system that automatically identifies and names individual icebergs at birth and tracks their sometimes decades-long journey to a watery grave.

Using satellite images, the tool captures the distinct shape of icebergs as they break off -- or calve -- from glaciers and ice sheets on land.

As they disintegrate over time, the machine performs a giant puzzle problem, linking the smaller "child" fragments back to the "parent" and creating detailed family trees never before possible at this scale.

It represents a huge improvement on existing methods, where scientists pore over satellite images to visually identify and track only the largest icebergs one by one.

The AI system, which was tested using satellite observations over Greenland, provides "vital new information" for scientists and improves predictions about the future climate, said the British Antarctic Survey.

Knowing where these giant slabs of freshwater were melting into the ocean was especially crucial with ice loss expected to increase in a warming world, it added.

"What's exciting is that this finally gives us the observations we've been missing," Ben Evans, a machine learning expert at the British Antarctic Survey, said in a statement.

"We've gone from tracking a few famous icebergs to building full family trees. For the first time, we can see where each fragment came from, where it goes and why that matters for the climate."

This use of AI could also be adapted to aid safe passage for navigators through treacherous polar regions littered by icebergs.

Iceberg calving is a natural process. But scientists say the rate at which they were being lost from Antarctica is increasing, probably because of human-induced climate change.