The opening line gives a hint:

Android phones are never the top-selling smartphones globally, but the ones that get closest are almost always budget models.

The "first" is that a premium phone is the top selling Android phone, whereas usually it's a budget phone.

The articles are based on data from Q2 2026, the time where everything is more expensive and so less budget-conscious consumers are purchasing a new phone, leaving a larger share of people shelling out over $1300 for a smartphone.

This "first" for Samsung is not really the achievement that the articles claim it to be. When you look at the headline, you believe that the S26 Ultra must have has a big leap forward to have this "first" title, when really it's a result of the memory crisis (caused partly by Samsung) making everything expensive. The headline is a lie, like so many others.

I am moving to Piefed at scallisto@retrofed.com (https://retrofed.com/u/scallisto)