Jan 09, 2026 10:36:00

The majority of iPhone users are still using the old iOS 18

About four months have passed since

iOS 26 was released in September 2025, but Statcounter's OS market share analysis revealed that more than half of iPhone users are still using iOS 18.

Mobile & Tablet iOS Version Market Share Worldwide | Statcounter Global Stats
https://gs.statcounter.com/ios-version-market-share/mobile-tablet/worldwide/#monthly-202601-202601-bar

Statcounter, a company that analyzes web traffic, regularly publishes OS market share information derived from its analytics data. The graph below shows the global iOS market share as of January 2026. iOS 18.7 accounted for 33.83% of users, while iOS 18.6 accounted for 25.23%, meaning iOS 18 users accounted for more than half. Meanwhile, iOS 26.1 accounted for 10.59% and iOS 26.2 for 4.58%.

Even in Japan alone, iOS 18.6 accounts for 26.34% of users, while iOS 18.7 accounts for 25.18%, with iOS 18 still accounting for the majority.

According to Statcounter's tally, iOS 18 has a high market share, but according to

the OS usage report published by app analytics service TelemetryDeck , iOS 26's market share reached 59.82% as of 8:00 AM on January 1, 2026.

iOS 26 introduces Liquid Glass, which significantly changes the look of the entire OS and apps. Many users have complained that Liquid Glass 'decreases visibility,' which seems to be one of the reasons why they are avoiding updating to iOS 26.

How to solve the 'iOS 26 screen difficulty problem' by reducing the transparency effect of Liquid Glass and improving iPhone visibility - GIGAZINE

The global market share of Android is as follows: Android 15 has the highest market share at 22.93%, while Android 16, released in June 2025, had a market share of 15.09%.

In Japan, Android 16 is in first place with 20.13%.