The past year confirms a trend that has become entrenched in the global mobile phone market: a rock-solid duopoly that leaves no room for other competitors at the top of the sales charts.
According to the latest data from Counterpoint Research’s Global Handset Model Sales Tracker, 2025 has once again seen Apple and Samsung split the list of the ten best-selling smartphones worldwide.
For the fourth year in a row, no other manufacturer has managed to overturn the dominance of the two tech giants, who together accounted for 19% of global smartphone sales.
… l’iPhone dell’anno precedente, avete indovinato.
At the very top of the rankings sits the iPhone 16 from Apple. The device from Cupertino not only claimed the top rung of the podium, but also widened the gap over its direct rivals, confirming the brand’s winning strategy of maintaining a strong appeal to consumers even months after launch.
Apple’s presence in the top 10 is overwhelming, with seven positions occupied by its devices. If the iPhone 16 led the annual rankings, analysts’ attention also focused on the performance of the new iPhone 17 series, launched in September 2025.
The data shows a decidedly warm reception: during its first full quarter on the market, the new device family recorded sales up 16% compared to the previous generation in the same period.
The engine of this growth has been identified as strong demand from key markets like the United States, China and Western Europe.
In particular, the base model of the iPhone 17 proved to be the real standout, marking the highest growth among all devices and rapidly climbing positions compared to the debut of its predecessor the year before.
According to Counterpoint analysts, the success is attributed to a significant jump in quality in technical specifications: the introduction of a 120 Hz refresh rate (vs the previous 60 Hz) and the increase of base storage space to 256 GB have brought the standard model much closer to the variants “Pro“, inviting purchases.
Completing the positive picture for Apple was also the iPhone 16e. Launched in the spring of 2025, this model offered a more accessible entry point to the iOS ecosystem. The strategy of offering the latest features with some targeted compromises paid off, finding fertile ground especially in Japan and the United States.
While Apple dominates in numbers, Samsung continues to defend its market share successfully, occupying the remaining three positions of the top 10. The South Korean giant confirms its leadership in the Android world with the Galaxy A16 5G, which positioned itself as the best-selling Android smartphone of 2025, ranking fifth overall.
This device managed to offer the right balance between hardware and software, even if its sales were slightly affected by the early arrival of its successor, the Galaxy A17 5G.
However, the most notable figure for Samsung concerns the high-end. For the second year in a row, a model from the series “S” has entered the best-seller list: the Galaxy S25 Ultra has claimed ninth place.
Regional performance of the S25 Ultra has been remarkable, with year-over-year growth more than triple in Japan and double-digit growth in India. The device narrowed the sales share gap with the more affordable A series, showing that consumers are willing to pay more for advanced AI and productivity features.
Looking ahead to 2026, Counterpoint experts outline an evolving scenario influenced by the dynamics of hardware components. It is expected that memory price increases will have a disproportionate impact on the low- and mid-range segments, where margins are tighter.
This phenomenon could paradoxically favor a further concentration of sales on flagship models.
The memory shortage and the resulting price hikes will hit entry-level devices hard, whose sales are traditionally concentrated in emerging markets such as the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
Consequently, it is likely that in the coming year we will see an even greater presence of high-end devices in global rankings.
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