New data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) has shown very little year-on-year growth in the global smartphone market, with a 1% increase during Q2 2025.
The modest growth can be associated with a similar trend that we have during similar periods over the last few years, when demand for smartphones usually seems to drop due to economic uncertainty. And with the ongoing global economic challenges, it’s clear to see why.
As for the breakdown, Samsung retained the top spot with an estimated 58 million shipments and a 19.7% market share. This was thanks to Samsung’s recently launched models, namely the Galaxy A56 and Galaxy A36, which have been praised by critics.
In second place was Apple with 46.4 million shipments, translating to a 15.7% market share. The American tech giant saw a growth of double digits in emerging markets. However, it also got a 1% decline in China.
Chinese firm Xiaomi took third place with 42.5 million shipments, giving it 14.4% share of the global market pie. Unfortunately for Xiaomi, this translated to a 0.6% drop in global sales.
Vivo took fourth spot with 27.1 million smartphones sold and 9.2% share. Transsion Holding, owner of Infinix, TECNO and iTel, took fifth with 25.1 million shipments and an 8.5% share.
Despite the small increase, the fact that the industry saw a positive trajectory during such ongoing economic hardships goes a long way to show that the global smartphone market could see big growth in the coming quarters this year.
And with the tech launch period drawing closer, we will inevitably see many smartphone makers take advantage to make sure they register as much profit as possible by the end of the year.
We have already seen the recently launched foldables from Samsung receive a lot of demand and the likes of Apple and Xiaomi are expected to launch their flagship models in the coming months. Evidently, it’s only a matter of time.
