In the third quarter of 2025, Samsung held the largest share of global smartphone shipments, at ** percent. Long-time competitor Apple ranked second, with an **** percent market share. Samsung and Apple smartphone sales Smartphone vendors have been suffering from the events of the past couple of years, including the pandemic and the economic downturn. However, they all appear to be recovering, as shown by the recent increase in shipments. For instance, mostly based on the main line of Galaxy Series, Samsung's smartphone shipments totaled nearly ***** million units globally in 2024. Next to Samsung, Apple is a major manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, with the company shipping more than *** million iPhones worldwide in 2024. Apple’s sales tend to be very cyclical, peaking in the fourth quarter each year, much like in the fourth quarter of 2023, when they took the first spot in terms of units shipped globally with around **** units. Xiaomi in the lead While Apple and Samsung are typically the two major companies challenging for the top spot, Huawei had provided a strong challenge in recent years. Particularly, the Chinese company managed to climb the smartphone market ladder between 2011 and 2024, recording shipments of over ** million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, strong performances from rivals like Xiaomi and the effects of the U.S. trade ban have since seen Huawei fall outside the list of top five vendors by smartphone shipments.

Apple and Samsung were the leading smartphone vendors by the share of shipments in the United States in the second quarter of 2025, at ** percent and ** percent, respectively. Lenovo ranked third, having accounted for ** percent of shipments. Global smartphone market While Apple continues to lead the U.S. smartphone market, it has traditionally lagged on the global scale. Samsung has been the leading smartphone vendor worldwide since 2012. However, Samsung’s lead in terms of market share has started to dwindle in recent years, meaning that Apple and other Chinese competitors, such as Xiaomi, vivo, and Huawei, have seen a boost in the smartphone industry. Apple’s traction on the global scale in 2020 comes from its move towards 5G-enabled smartphones, which have doubled sales in one year, from 2020 to 2021, alone. Apple is currently the leading vendor in terms of global 5G smartphone shipments. The introduction of 5G throughout the world brings with it the possibility to upheave the smartphone market as we know it. Are U.S. consumers satisfied with Apple and Samsung phones? Apple and Samsung not only lead the smartphone market in the United States in terms of usage but also in terms of customer satisfaction. The highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index are nearly all Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone models. Furthermore, it appears that U.S. smartphone users are unlikely to change their primarily used smartphone brand anytime soon.

As of 2023, for the first time ever, Apple ranked as the market leader in the global smartphone market with a **** percent share of all shipments. The tech giant retained the top title in 2024, with a share of nearly ** percent of the global smartphone market. Samsung ranked second, holding ** percent of the market share. Global smartphone market shareSamsung has seen its popularity steadily increase since it held just a *** percent of the smartphone vendor market at the beginning of 2010. Samsung’s share of the overall mobile phone market, has fluctuated in recent times, dropping to under ** percent in the most recent year. Apple became smartphone market leader based on shipments in 2023. Apple’s smartphone sales are relatively cyclical and peak in the fourth quarter each year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, ** percent of all smartphones new smartphones sold were iPhones. The iPhone generated considerable revenue for Apple with sales of the device amounting to over *** billion U.S. dollars in their 2024 financial year.

As of July 2024, Apple’s iPhone 15 was the most popular smartphone model sold in the United States, accounting for over **** percent of total smartphone sales. The iPhone was the most popular smartphone in the United States at that time, occupying four spots in the top five. Apple and Samsung: two leading competitors Apple and Samsung are the leading smartphone vendors in the United States with a combined market share of almost ** percent in the second quarter of 2023. The two smartphone vendors dominate the U.S. smartphone market not only in terms of sales, but also when it comes to customer satisfaction: Samsung’s Galaxy line and the Apple iPhones are the highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index. In line with their successes in the United States, Apple and Samsung also lead the global smartphone market, albeit to a lesser degree – the two brands have a combined market share of close to ** percent. Smartphone penetration the highest in the United States Smartphone sales value in the United States more than doubled in the last decade, making the U.S. one of the major smartphone markets globally. In 2024, over *** million smartphones were forecast to be sold, with the number of U.S. smartphone users forecast expected to grow in the coming years.

As of the first quarter of 2024, Samsung was the leading smartphone vendor, holding 20 percent of the market. Apple followed closely occupying 17 percent of the global smartphone market. Other vendors had lower shares.

In 2023, the used smartphone market share (including both officially refurbished and used smartphones) in North America reached ** percent. The used smartphone market is expected to decrease in North America and by 2026, it will amount to less than ** percent of the global used smartphone market. The global refurbished smartphone market In recent years, the refurbished smartphone market has been growing at a global level and reached a size of roughly ** billion U.S. dollars in 2021. In the same year, over 251 million used or refurbished smartphones were shipped globally, with Latin America and India being the market leaders in terms of growth. The U.S. refurbished smartphone market Despite the U.S. playing an active role in the global refurbished smartphone market, Americans appear to prefer to buy new phones instead of reconditioned ones, mainly because they are concerned with the quality and reliability of their smartphones. However, those who do buy such devices prefer Apple iPhones rather than Android smartphones, making the iPhone XR and the iPhone 11 the most popular reconditioned smartphones.

Samsung held a **-percent share of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2025. Apple followed closely behind, with an overall share of ** percent. The changing face of the smartphone market The makeup of the smartphone market has changed significantly since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost ** percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, and before the arrival of the iPhone, it was hard for consumers to imagine Nokia becoming a market outsider. Huawei's rise and fall have had a significant impact on the face of the market. Huawei consistently challenged Apple and Samsung for position at the top of the market, even leading it in the second quarter of 2020. Huawei has not appeared in the top five since the second quarter of 2021, largely as a result of trade restrictions. RIM’s BlackBerry devices stand as an example of the effect large-display touchscreen devices had on the market. BlackBerry devices sold on a number of strengths, including a well-designed physical QWERTY keyboard and secure enterprise integration. The BlackBerry lost its unique value as touchscreen devices improved, leading to a significant decline in revenue. RIM eventually ceased development of the BlackBerry in 2016.

After fierce competition among vivo, Samsung, and Xiaomi over the past few years, vivo became the leading smartphone brand in India. Vivo led the market in the last three quarters. However, in the first two quarters of 2024, Xiaomi and Samsung ranked as high as or higher than Vivo. Aside from Samsung, the other four top smartphone brands are Chinese. Smartphone market share in India The number of smartphone users in India, the most populous country in the world, was on the rise. In 2023, the number of smartphone users in the country surpassed one billion for the first time. This figure was forecasted to jump to nearly 1.55 billion by 2040. And, around seven percent of the population in India purchase their phones online. This growth can also be observed in the volume of smartphone shipments in India. The number of smartphone shipments in India increased from four million units in the second quarter of 2012 to 47 million units in the third quarter of 2024. Major players South Korean giant Samsung, a leader in the global smartphone market, had been the top smartphone vendor in India since early 2013, when the company held about 30 percent of the market share, until the end of 2017. But its position has been challenged by the Chinese smartphone manufacturers like vivo, Xiaomi and OPPO. Vivo is a Chinese tech company based in Guangdong. It's one of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world. And Xiaomi has quickly risen to the top of China's crowded technology market and is now one of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers globally, since its founding in 2010. Xiaomi specializes primarily in smartphones, but is also active in other markets, and it started manufacturing electric vehicles in 2023.

In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung and Apple were leaders of the European smartphone market. Xiaomi grew from **** percent in the first quarter of 2019 to ** percent in the first quarter of 2024. Smartphones make up the primary component of the European mobile phone market, with the smartphone penetration rate in Europe being forecast to reach almost ** percent in 2024. Leading manufacturers maintain their share While the total share of the European market held by Samsung and Apple has fluctuated during this time, they still accounted for more than ** percent of the total market in the first quarter of 2024. The two tech giants alone were responsible for around ** percent of global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of 2024. Rather than the larger manufacturers, it has been the smaller manufacturers such as LG, ZTE and Lenovo that have seen their share of shipments decline. Since the third quarter of 2020, Huawei’s share has dropped significantly as well. Huawei stalls Huawei’s previous growth was observed in the increase of total number of handsets shipped to **** million units in the second quarter of 2020. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, Huawei’s total number of shipments dropped significantly to **** million, and their European smartphone market share dropped to *** percent in the third quarter of 2021.

After fierce competition among Vivo, Samsung, and Xiaomi over the past few years, Vivo became the leading smartphone brand in India, with a **-percent share of shipments in the third quarter of 2025. However, in the first two quarters of 2024, Xiaomi and Samsung ranked as high as or higher than Vivo. Aside from Samsung, the other four top smartphone brands are Chinese. Smartphone market share in India The number of smartphone users in India, the most populous country in the world, was on the rise. In 2023, the number of smartphone users in the country surpassed *********** for the first time. This figure was forecasted to jump to nearly **** billion by 2040. And, around ***** percent of the population in India purchase their phones online. This growth can also be observed in the volume of smartphone shipments in India. The number of smartphone shipments in India increased from **** million units in the second quarter of 2012 to ** million units in the third quarter of 2024. Major players South Korean giant Samsung, a leader in the global smartphone market, had been the top smartphone vendor in India since early 2013, when the company held about ** percent of the market share, until the end of 2017. But its position has been challenged by the Chinese smartphone manufacturers like Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo. Vivo is a Chinese tech company based in Guangdong. It's one of the top five smartphone manufacturers in the world. And Xiaomi has quickly risen to the top of China's crowded technology market and is now one of the leading consumer electronics manufacturers globally since its founding in 2010. Xiaomi specializes primarily in smartphones but is also active in other markets, and it started manufacturing electric vehicles in 2023.

In the third quarter of 2025, Apple retained its majority market share in Canada, accounting for about *****percent of the country's entire smartphone market. This was a decrease compared to the previous quarter.

In October 2025, Samsung was the brand with the highest market share in Mexico, accounting for over ** percent of the smartphone web traffic in the North American country. As of October 2025, the brand also ranked first in South America.

As of July 2025, Xiaomi's market share of smartphones in Asia amounted to about 14.19 percent. In comparison, Xiaomi's market share of mobiles in Asia was only 1.93 percent at the beginning of the measured period in 2016.

In January 2025, the ********************* was the best-selling smartphone on the Indian market with a share of *** percent. This was followed by OPPO's A3x. With *** percent, Apple is increasing popular in the country with iPhone 16. Android market India was the second-largest market for Android smartphones. And in 2024, more than *** million smartphones were sold in the country and the number is likely to grow in the following years. Realme has a great potential for growth as it has been marketed as a youth-centric smartphone with great quality at an affordable price. Realme has plans to launch new lifestyle products other than just smartphones. As the country has rolled out 5G services by the end of 2022, companies have started offering their first 5G phones in India. Common activities on smartphones With affordable and cheap smartphones, India’s data consumption was the highest in the world. The data usage per smartphone was at an average of 29 GB per month, according to a report by Ericsson. Data was mainly used for video calls followed by scanning QR codes and using mobile payment apps that increased the mobile data traffic.

In the third quarter of 2024, Samsung took the top position among smartphone vendors by shipments, accounting for 19 percent of the market share, followed by Apple with 18 percent. Xiaomi came in third with 14 percent of smartphone shipments worldwide.

Smartphones running the Android operating system hold an ** percent share of the global market in 2019 and this is expected to increase over the forthcoming years. The mobile operating system developed by Apple (iOS) has a ** percent share of the market.

How Android became the market leader Android’s global success can in many ways be attributed to its open-source software that can be installed on all smartphone devices for free. Developed by Google, the open code provides manufacturers the freedom to choose which apps are pre-installed on their devices, and they can customize layouts to create unique experiences for users. The first commercial version of the Android software was released in 2008 and its rise to market leader was almost instant. The platform held a **** percent share of the global operating systems’ market in 2009, but this figure increased by around ** percent each year for the next three years.

The global smartphone market Annual sales of smartphones have increased to around **** billion units worldwide. They are now available to everyone and not just those with wealth. The cost of buying a smartphone has continued to fall each year, with the global average price now being around *** U.S. dollars. Fierce competition within the smartphone market could be one reason why prices are falling. Samsung (South Korea) and Apple (U.S.) have historically held large shares of global smartphone production, but Chinese brands Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are now offering alternative devices that are proving popular worldwide.

Samsung has remained a leading competitor in the global smartphone market. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company shipped approximately 61.4 million units, accounting for a 19 percent share of global smartphone shipments. Its long-time rival Apple followed closely, with an 18.3 percent market share. Samsung’s smartphone market share The smartphone market has fluctuated considerably since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost 50 percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, but the company’s market presence dropped to around three percent in 2013. Apple and Samsung have remained among the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009. Samsung’s Galaxy, first released in 2009, is their main line of smartphone products, while Apple heavily invests in the iPhone, a primary source of revenue for the company. Samsung’s smartphone market share increased significantly in a span of three years, going from three percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 32.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012. None of its competitors have experienced a similar growth. As the overall smartphone market also grew, Samsung was able to maintain its position as the global market leader. In 2024 alone, the Korean electronics giant shipped around 223.5 million smartphones worldwide, and accounted for 19.4 percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

Apple has kept its position as the leading brand in the smartphone market in North America in the first quarter of 2024, shipping more smartphones than any other vendor. Apple held ** percent of the smartphone market in North America, while Samsung, with the second-largest market share, held ** percent on the North American smartphone market.

Just two manufacturers make up the top five smartphone models in the United Kingdom (UK), with Apple iPhones accounting for almost ** percent of the market. As July 2024, the iPhone ** Pro Max was the most popular model in the UK, accounting for almost ** percent of sales.

In 2023, Samsung had the largest share of the market for mobile devices in Brazil, just under ** percent. It was followed by Motorola, with almost ** percent and Apple, with over ** percent. The market has evolved significantly compared to the previous decade. In 2010, Nokia sold mobile devices to over half of Brazil's market, but gradually lost significance over time. Major smartphone market players Apple and Samsung not only play a leading role in the Brazilian smartphone market but are among the main vendors in most countries and worldwide. Particularly, the leadership is always disputed between Apple and Samsung, two tech giants that have created entire device ecosystems. In the first quarter of 2023 Samsung shipped roughly ** million smartphones, while Apple recorded around ** million smartphone shipments. Smartphone vendors like Xiaomi and Oppo still manage to make it to the top five, but their market shares are significantly lower than those of Apple and Samsung. Smartphone penetration in Brazil is on the rise Nowadays, smartphones are used to perform all kinds of activities, from calling and messaging, to watching videos and playing games. Therefore, the number of smartphone users and smartphone penetration has dramatically increased in the past decades, with the latter forecast to reach ** percent in 2029. Moreover, smartphones are the most frequently owned digital devices in the Latin American country in 2023, followed by PCs.