{"id":541409,"date":"2026-03-24T01:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541409\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T01:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T01:32:11","slug":"google-pixel-is-an-exception-as-android-brands-face-a-rough-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/541409\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Pixel is an exception as Android brands face a rough 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

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2026 and the ongoing RAM\/storage crisis continues to put out a rough outlook for the year ahead, and Android brands are bearing the brunt of that with a new forecast revealing that Android shipments could drop as much as 15% this year to the iPhone\u2019s 2%, but there is a bit of hope for Google Pixel.<\/p>\n

New research from Morgan Stanley brings out a few key points regarding the 2026 smartphone market which, as has been made clear, is in for a rough year, as past reports have brought out.<\/p>\n

The Morgan Stanley note, as shared by Investing.com<\/a>, forecasts that Android shipments will drop by as much as 15% year-over-year, while iPhone shipments may only drop by around 2%. That\u2019s a huge disparity, with Apple being \u201cthe only major global smartphone vendor expected to gain share in 2026.\u201d Android brands, the report brings out, face \u201cunprecedented memory cost inflation\u201d which will \u201csignificantly dampen smartphone market demand\u201d due to higher prices.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the note, as shared by<\/a> Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, Apple is said to have a \u201c5-year high\u201d for switching rate, with Google Pixel being the only other notable exception as \u201call other major smartphone brands\u201d are seeing \u201cnegative net switching rates.\u201d <\/p>\n

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In other words, outside of customers upgrading within their respective ecosystems, Google Pixel and the iPhone are the only brands gaining new users. As Weinbach points out, though, Apple\u2019s rate means a lot more due to scale, which is why Morgan Stanley says that \u201cApple is positioned to be the clearest market share beneficiary in 2026, while Android vendors are likely to lose share.\u201d<\/p>\n

This comes as Apple has already been taking over Samsung\u2019s crown as the world\u2019s largest smartphone brand<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A figure from the Morgan Stanley research shows that Apple\u2019s switching rate jumped from 6% to 11% year-over-year, the 2026 figure being a forecast, while Google Pixel\u2019s rate is slowing down from 33% in 2025 to 28% in 2026.<\/p>\n

\"\"Figure shared by Max Weinbach<\/a><\/p>\n

Needless to say, things are looking increasingly bleak for the year ahead for Android, and the impacts are sure to be felt more and more over the coming months.<\/p>\n

More on Google Pixel:<\/p>\n

Follow Ben:\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

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