The smartphone market in 2025: Apple overtakes Samsung and claims the top spot

2025 concluded as a year of fundamental importance for the tech industry, marking the second consecutive period of recovery for the mobile sector. According to Counterpoint data, global smartphone shipments grew by 2% year over year, a result driven mainly by demand for premium devices and the rapid expansion of 5G in emerging markets.

In this optimistic scenario (at least for now), Apple has emerged as the world’s leading manufacturer, capturing 20% of the global market share and posting a 10% year-over-year increase, the highest rate among the top five brands in the sector.

Apple beats Samsung in 2025, Xiaomi Maintains Position: An Overview of the Year for the Smartphone Sector

The success of Apple in 2025 was fueled by a combination of strategic factors and fortuitous product cycles. The launch of the iPhone 17 series in the last quarter of the year generated strong momentum, while the iPhone 16 series models maintained steady popularity in key regions such as India, Japan and Southeast Asia.

Additionally, the availability of financing options has made premium smartphones more accessible, allowing a broader audience to gravitate toward premium segments.

Samsung held the second position with a 19% market share and a 5% year-over-year growth. Although the Korean company faced competitive pressures in Latin America and Western Europe, it managed to stay relevant thanks to the strong performance of the Galaxy A series in the mid-range segment and the success of the Galaxy S25 and Fold 7 models in the flagship category.

Third place in the global ranking is Xiaomi, which held 13% share thanks to steady demand in Southeast Asia and Latin America. A particularly noteworthy data point concerns the Chinese domestic market, where Xiaomi probably achieved the top position for total shipments during 2025.

The bottom half of the Top 5 shows a contrast between Vivo and OPPO. While Vivo benefited from growth in the premium segment and a solid offline sales network in India, OPPO registered a 4% decline, affected by weak demand in China and growing competition in the Asia-Pacific region. Overall, the combined share of OPPO and Realme stood at 11%.

Despite the positive results of 2025, Counterpoint analysts issued a cautious signal for 2026. It is expected that market growth may slow due to rising memory prices and shortages of critical components. This phenomenon is closely linked to the fact that chipmakers are shifting significant resources toward AI-dedicated data centers, potentially diverting production capacity away from the mobile sector.

In this context of technological uncertainty, during 2026 Chinese brands (but not only) will have to face the toughest challenges due to the RAM memory crisis. Consequently, a un slowdown in growth of the smartphone sector is expected, after a 2025 in which user preferences moved decisively upward compared to low-budget options.