Apple beats Samsung, shipping 20% of smartphone sales in 2025

Apple beat Samsung in the global smartphone race last year, shipping more phones than anyone else and taking a 20% share of all global smartphone shipments, according to Counterpoint Research.

That gave it the top spot, pushing Samsung to second place with 19% share, though it wasn’t even close in terms of growth because while Apple saw a 10% jump in shipments compared to the year before, Samsung barely scraped 5%.

Total smartphone shipments around the world grew 2% in 2025. That makes two years in a row of growth. The big drivers were financing plans, aggressive marketing, and the rising demand for 5G phones in countries still catching up.

In the first half of the year, brands rushed to ship more phones before tariffs kicked in. But those tariffs didn’t hit as hard as people feared, so the second half wasn’t a disaster.

The year ended with some parts of the world doing better than others. Japan, the Middle East, and some Asian markets helped balance out the slow demand in the U.S. and Europe.

iPhone 17 and upgrade cycle push Apple to a strong Q4

In the last three months of 2025, Apple locked down 25% of the global smartphone market in Q4, which is its highest ever for any quarter. Samsung followed with 17%.

“The iPhone 17 series gained significant traction in Q4 following its successful launch, while the iPhone 16 continued to perform exceptionally well in Japan, India and Southeast Asia. This dual momentum was further amplified by the COVID‑era upgrade cycle reaching its inflection point, as millions of users were due for replacement,” said Counterpoint.

Counterpoint’s report said millions of people who bought phones during COVID were ready to swap them out in 2025. The timing worked in Apple’s favor.

Samsung stayed in second place. Its Galaxy A series did well in the middle price range. The Galaxy Fold7 and S25 sold better than the models before them, especially in the high-end category. Samsung still has problems in Latin America and Europe, but it stayed steady in Japan and its strongest markets.

Other brands hold on while supply problems build for 2026

Xiaomi held the third spot with 13% market share, as its sales remain strong in Latin America and Southeast Asia. Its mix of mid-range and flagship phones helped keep things steady.

Vivo was next, up 3% thanks to good offline sales in India and a tight product lineup. OPPO dropped 4% because of falling sales in China and the rest of Asia. It did okay in India and the Middle East, but not enough to balance the losses. OPPO is now folding realme into its business. Together, they’ll hold 11% of the market, which puts the combined company in fourth place.

Outside the top five, Nothing grew fast; 31% year-over-year. Google followed with 25% growth. Both are small but growing quickly.

Tarun Pathak, the research director, said 2026 might be rough. There’s a shortage of DRAM and NAND chips, and prices for parts are already rising. Chipmakers are focusing on AI data centers instead of smartphones. Phone prices are already going up. Counterpoint dropped its 2026 shipment forecast by 3%.

Tarun said Apple and Samsung will probably be okay because they have stronger supply chains and sell more expensive phones. Cheaper brands selling to low-income markets might struggle more.

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