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Apple Dominates 2025 Global Smartphone Shipments with 20% Market Share and 10% YoY Surge
Apple really took the lead in the smartphone world last year, dominating 2025 global smartphone shipments with a solid 20% market share and an impressive 10% jump from the year before. It’s no surprise they topped the rankings among the top five brands, Apple dominates 2025 global smartphone shipments just like that.
A fresh report from Counterpoint Research breaks it all down. Apple’s big push came from rolling out the iPhone 17 series, which really caught fire in the final quarter of the year. On top of that, the iPhone 16 kept shining bright in places like Japan, India, and Southeast Asia, helping keep the momentum going.
Varun Mishra, a senior analyst at Counterpoint, put it simply when talking about Apple’s growth in 2025. He said it was all about their growing footprint in up-and-coming and mid-sized markets, plus a smarter lineup of products that people wanted. Mishra also pointed out that sales for the iPhone 16 and 17 got a real boost from folks finally upgrading phones they held onto since the COVID days, millions were overdue for something new.
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Remember Apple’s big 2025 event? That’s when they unveiled the iPhone 17 lineup: the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the sleek iPhone Air. These came right on the heels of the iPhone 16 and pack what Apple calls the most powerful and efficient chip ever in an iPhone. It’s all part of their plan to stretch that lead even further in the global smartphone market, where Apple dominates 2025 global smartphone shipments with 20% market share.
Trailing behind Apple, Samsung grabbed second place in the 2025 global smartphone shipments with 19% market share and a 5% year-on-year bump. Their Galaxy A series, along with the Galaxy Fold7 and S25 lineup, really pulled through, they did better than the previous versions. Even with some tough sales in Latin America and Western Europe, Samsung found its groove in Japan to fuel that 2025 growth.
Xiaomi landed third, holding steady at 13% market share with no change year-on-year. They kept things afloat thanks to a strong showing in Latin America and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), plus smart handling of their sales channels, even as the whole industry faced some rough patches.
Vivo took fourth spot with 8% market share and 3% growth year-on-year, mostly thanks to solid offline sales pushes in India. OPPO matched that 8% share but saw a 4% drop because of softer demand and stiff competition back home in China and across the Asia-Pacific.
Looking beyond the top five, brands like Nothing and Google had some exciting jumps, 31% and 25% growth year-on-year in 2025, showing they’re making waves.
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Overall, the 2025 global smartphone shipments grew for the second year running, up 2% from 2024, though that’s a bit slower than the 4% we saw the year before. A lot of it came from people trading up to premium phones, and demand for 5G models spiked in developing areas.
Shilpi Jain, another senior analyst at Counterpoint, explained how worries over tariffs led companies to ship extra hard in the first half of the year. But as 2025 went on, those tariffs didn’t hit as bad as expected, so they didn’t drag down the second half as much. She also mentioned growth was patchy by region, strong spots like Japan, MEA, and parts of Asia-Pacific made up for slumps in more established markets.
Looking ahead to 2026, things might get pricier for smartphones. The report flags shortages in DRAM and NAND memory, plus higher costs for parts, since chipmakers are shifting focus to AI data centers over phones. Apple and Samsung should hold up fine, thanks to their reliable supply chains and grip on the high-end market. But Chinese brands chasing budget buyers could feel the squeeze.
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