According to IDC, Apple came close to Samsung in terms of smartphone shipments in the first quarter, but remained in second place. Counterpoint Research says that in retail sales, Apple managed to become the leader among smartphone suppliers for the first time this time of year.
Image Source: Apple
The specificity of Apple’s activity in the smartphone market is that new iPhone models are released in the fall so that buyers can get them before the New Year, so the first calendar quarter is usually not a high season for the brand’s products, even taking into account the importance of the Chinese market, where the Lunar New Year is celebrated at the end of January.
Against this background, the retail success of Apple products in the first quarter is an extraordinary event, as noted by representatives of Counterpoint Research. The Cupertino company managed to increase the volume of iPhone retail sales by 4% and retain 19% of the global smartphone market. At the same time, retail sales of smartphones of all brands as a whole increased by 3% in the quarter. While there was a decline in the markets of developed economies, China showed decent growth due to the introduction of subsidies for the purchase of new smartphones by the population costing up to $820. Demand for smartphones also recovered in Latin America, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.
Image source: Counterpoint Research
Apple was directly helped not only by the expectation of new import duties in the US, but also by the release of the more affordable iPhone 16e, which was in demand in certain regions. Geographically, iPhone sales in the first quarter were driven by Japan, India, the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia. In the US, Europe and China, iPhone sales either stagnated or declined. From this point of view, concerns about the introduction of increased tariffs in the US had a greater impact on the behavior of suppliers than retail buyers. This explains the discrepancy between Counterpoint Research statistics and IDC data, which indicated a 10% increase in iPhone shipments in the first quarter.
In the Samsung smartphone line, the Galaxy S25 family continues to sell well. The company was in second place in the ranking of the largest smartphone suppliers in terms of retail sales in the first quarter with a market share of 18%. Although overall, Samsung smartphone shipments fell by 5% in the quarter, they grew by double-digit percentage points in March. The share of the flagship Ultra model in the sales structure of the Galaxy S25 family has grown. However, over the year, Samsung’s share of the smartphone market still fell from 20 to 18%.
Xiaomi, in third place, managed to increase its smartphone shipments by 5%, and its share increased from 13 to 14% over the year. It was helped not only by expansion into new markets, but also by sales growth in its home market of China. The most interesting thing is that the promotion of Xiaomi smartphones and other electronics was facilitated by the company’s successful debut as an electric vehicle manufacturer. Vivo and Oppo occupy fourth and fifth places in the Counterpoint Research rating, respectively, with market shares equal to 8%. At the same time, the former increased its smartphone shipments by 6% last quarter, while the latter reduced them by 1%. All other smartphone suppliers outside the top five together own only a third of the market in terms of retail sales in the first quarter. In China, by the way, Huawei managed to become the largest supplier of smartphones to the local market. Counterpoint Research analysts expect the smartphone market to decline this year.