Apple vs Samsung: who sold the most smartphones in 2025?

Apple and Samsung are easily the two companies that sell the most smartphones every year, but who will ultimately win in 2025?

Apple vs Samsung

Global smartphone sales increased by 2 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year. It is the second consecutive year of growth. According to research agency Counterpoint Both Apple and Samsung sold more smartphones in 2025 than in 2024. For Samsung it was 5 percent more than the year before, for Apple 10 percent. As a result, Apple now has a market share of no less than 20 percent, making it the market leader.

Samsung is therefore in second place behind Apple with a market share of 19 percent. Third place goes (again) to Xiaomi, with a 13 percent share. Counterpoint says the market was boosted by more consumers taking advantage of financing to upgrade to premium smartphones. In addition, 5G devices are increasingly accepted in emerging markets.

The iPhone 17 series is popular

The iPhone 17 series became very popular in the fourth quarter and at the same time the iPhone 16 continued to perform exceptionally well in Japan, India and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, the pandemic-era upgrade cycle reached a tipping point in 2025, leaving millions of users in need of smartphone replacement. According to Counterpoint, Apple accounted for a quarter of global shipments in the fourth quarter of 2025, its highest quarterly share ever.

Manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung were initially concerned about US tariffs. For that reason, they moved shipments as much as possible to the first half of 2025. Ultimately, the impact of the duties turned out to be less significant than expected and did not have much impact on sales in the second half of the year.

Best-selling iPhone of 2025

At the beginning of December, figures were already announced about the best-selling smartphones of 2025. The first four places were for iPhones (iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max and the iPhone 16e), followed by five Samsung devices. This was already an indication that Apple would sell more smartphones than Samsung in 2025.

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