Apple has finally pushed past Samsung to claim the title of the world’s top smartphone seller, ending a run that had lasted more than a decade. After years of trading quarterly leads, the iPhone maker has now secured the full‑year crown, reshaping the balance of power in a market that is only just returning to growth.
The shift is not just a bragging rights moment between two rivals. It reflects deeper changes in how people buy phones, which brands they trust with four‑figure purchases, and how manufacturers are responding to a tougher economic backdrop and rising component costs.
How Apple pulled ahead of Samsung at last
Apple’s climb to the top has been a long time coming. Earlier, research showed that Apple was set to overtake Samsung in global smartphone shipments, with analysts flagging that Apple was poised to become the leading smartphone brand for the year compared with 2024, a forecast that has now been borne out in the final numbers linked to Apple, Samsung and the Market. By the end of 2025, Apple had edged past its rival in annual shipments, a milestone that earlier quarterly wins had foreshadowed but never fully locked in.
Detailed shipment data from Counterpoint confirms that Apple was number one in 2025 in terms of smartphone shipments, while Samsung fell to number two, a reversal of the long‑standing hierarchy that had defined the Android era. Earlier reporting had already highlighted that Apple beat out Samsung for the first time in 14 years to become the world’s top smartphone seller, with the gain driven by Apple’s performance in premium devices and the strength of the iPhone lineup, a shift captured in the analysis of Apple and Samsung for. That momentum has now solidified into a full‑year lead, knocking Samsung off the throne it had occupied since the early 2010s.
The numbers behind Apple’s new lead
Apple’s victory is not just symbolic, it is backed by hard market share figures. Global smartphone shipments grew 2 percent year over year in 2025, and within that modest recovery Apple emerged as the clear market leader, according to research on Global Smartphone Shipments, where Apple Emerged as the Market Leader in a slowly expanding Global market. On a per‑manufacturer basis, Apple saw the biggest improvement, moving from an 18 percent market share in 2024 to a 20 percent share in 2025, while Samsung slipped to second with a 17 percent share, figures detailed in the breakdown of Apple. That two‑point gain may sound small, but in a mature industry it represents tens of millions of devices and billions of dollars in revenue.
Other trackers echo the same story. One analysis notes that Apple managed to trump Samsung and secure the top spot in global smartphone shipments, with Xiaomi in third place and a 3 percent year‑over‑year growth rate, a ranking that underscores how Apple’s leadership is being challenged from below as well as above, as seen in the comparison of Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi. Another report describes how Apple retook the crown as the world’s top smartphone seller and suggests that its grip on the premium tier could shape upgrade decisions for the next few years, a trend captured in the assessment of Apple and the way Your next upgrade is being framed.
iPhone strategy, from 16e to ultra‑premium, rewrites the playbook
Behind the numbers is a deliberate shift in how Apple builds and prices its phones. Analysts point to a strategy that spans both ultra‑premium flagships and more accessible models, widening the funnel of people who can enter the iOS ecosystem. A key piece of that strategy was the launch of the lower‑priced iPhone 16e in February, which gave Apple a fresh way to reach cost‑conscious buyers without abandoning its focus on margins, a move highlighted in coverage of how Apple ultimately Samsung. At the same time, the iPhone 16 line has anchored the high end, with the iPhone 16 emerging as the top selling brand in several markets, particularly among buyers who want expensive, long‑lasting handsets, a pattern detailed in the report on Apple, Samsung and the broader Report.
That dual‑track approach has helped Apple become the world’s leading smartphone brand by shipments, surpassing Samsung and consolidating its position in both mature and emerging markets, a shift described in the business and Business and Economy context around Apple. It has also reinforced the gravitational pull of Apple’s ecosystem, from iCloud storage to Apple TV+ and Apple Music, which turn each iPhone sale into a recurring revenue stream. For Samsung, which relies more heavily on a broad Android portfolio and less on tightly integrated services, matching that level of lock‑in is a structural challenge rather than a simple product problem.
Rivals Xiaomi and others crowd the chasing pack
While the Apple versus Samsung rivalry grabs the headlines, the rest of the field is quietly reshaping the market’s middle. Xiaomi has secured the third spot globally, with reporting noting that Apple tops the global smartphone market in 2025 while Xiaomi grabs third place, a sign that Chinese manufacturers remain highly competitive on both price and features, as detailed in the rundown of Apple and Xiaomi. Xiaomi’s growth, including the 3 percent year‑over‑year gain cited in other research, shows that there is still room for aggressive challengers that can undercut both Apple and Samsung while offering high‑spec devices.
That pressure is particularly acute for Samsung, which has historically dominated the mid‑range Android segment that Xiaomi and its peers now target. Analysts note that Samsung’s slip to number two in shipments is partly tied to this squeeze in the mid‑range, a dynamic that is visible in the Counterpoint breakdown of how Apple and Samsung traded places. For consumers, that competition is translating into more aggressive pricing, longer software support promises, and a faster trickle‑down of features like high refresh rate displays and advanced camera systems into sub‑flagship devices.
A fragile throne in a cooling, costlier market
Apple’s new status comes just as the market outlook turns more cautious. Forecasts for 2026 smartphone shipments have been revised down as a global memory shortage drives bill of materials costs up, a warning captured in the analysis of how Smartphone Shipment Forecasts as Memory Shortage Drives component Costs Up across the Global industry. Another assessment of rising chip costs reaches a similar conclusion, stating that global smartphone shipments are expected to decline in 2026 as component prices climb, a trend detailed in the research on Rising costs identified by Counterpoint in the Global supply chain. For Apple, which already operates at the premium end of the market, that environment could reinforce its pricing power but also test how far consumers are willing to stretch for a new iPhone.
Manufacturers are already rethinking strategies in response. One overview notes that global smartphone shipments are expected to dip in 2026, and that companies are adjusting by focusing on profitability, services, and differentiated features rather than pure volume, a shift described in the analysis of how Global Smartphone Shipments 2026, Says Counterpoint Research and Here is How Manufacturers Are according to Coun. Apple’s services‑heavy model is well suited to that pivot, but it will still have to navigate the same cost pressures and demand headwinds as its rivals, even as it enjoys its new status at the top of the smartphone world.
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