 |
Apple's smartphone sales increased thanks to the success of the iPhone 17. Photo: The Verge . |
According to data from research firm TrendForce , Apple and Samsung's smartphone sales in 2025 will be nearly equal. This means both will maintain their leading positions in the global market.
In 2025, the global smartphone market recorded sales of 1.254 billion devices, a 2.5% increase compared to the previous year. Samsung and Apple each produced nearly 240 million devices that year, jointly holding the number one position.
Researchers say the smartphone market in the first half of 2025 will benefit from Chinese government subsidies, which will help stimulate demand. In the second half of the year, the launch of high-end smartphones from major manufacturers will further boost the market.
iPhone sales increased significantly towards the end of the year following Apple's launch of the iPhone 17 series. According to TrendForce , this helped boost iPhone sales in Q4 2025 by more than 50% compared to the previous quarter.
The iPhone 17 line benefits from Apple's sound pricing strategy, which helps boost market performance. Analysts believe that if Apple adopts a more aggressive pricing strategy in 2026, it could maintain strong sales.
Samsung is projected to maintain, or even expand, its market share in 2026 thanks to a large proportion of its smartphones being high-end models and a solid vertical supply chain. The company may postpone price increases.
Overall, the smartphone market is expected to face significant cost pressures this year. According to TrendForce , rising memory prices are likely to impact phone manufacturing costs. Global smartphone production this year is expected to decrease by at least 10%, to around 1.135 billion units.
Smartphone manufacturers are simultaneously facing a difficult choice between raising prices to maintain profitability or reducing product specifications to maintain production volume. The budget segment is expected to be most heavily impacted by rising component costs.
 |
Smartphone production figures for Q4 2025 and the whole year 2025. Image: TrendForce . |
Besides Apple and Samsung, other major players like Xiaomi (including Redmi and Poco) ranked third with sales of nearly 170 million units. The company had to reduce production in Q4 2025 to adjust inventory. In 2026, Xiaomi plans to increase the production proportion of mid-range to high-end models to stabilize profitability.
Oppo (including OnePlus and Realme) ranked 4th with 143 million devices. Due to its focus on budget smartphones, a sensitive segment when component prices rise, the company will have to reduce the production rate of its low-end Realme models by the end of 2025 to stabilize operations.
Vivo took fifth place, while Transsion (the company that owns the Tecno, Infinix, and itel brands) ranked sixth after drastically cutting production due to inventory adjustments and concerns about demand in emerging markets.
After ramping up production in late 2025, Honor ranked 7th globally, while Lenovo (including Motorola) ranked 8th with approximately 61 million devices.
In 2026, Lenovo may not need to significantly adjust production thanks to its smartphone distribution contracts with carriers, while its mainframe PC business could help ensure a stable supply of memory.
Source: https://znews.vn/thach-thuc-voi-thi-truong-smartphone-post1634539.html
Comment (0)