World Phone Sales Up Small in Middle of 2025 Even With Tough Times
New info from IDC and Counterpoint shows world phone sales up by 1-2% in the middle of 2025. This small rise came even with fears of trade costs and hard money times.
Ship Info and Top Makers
IDC says that from April to June 2025, firms sent out 295.2 million phones, up 3 million from last year. The top five firms by IDC are:
- Samsung: 58 million units (+8% from last year)
- Apple: 46.4 million units (+1.5%)
- Xiaomi: 42.5 million units (+0.6%)
- vivo: 27.1 million units (+4.8%)
- Transsion: 25.1 million units (-1.7%)
Counterpoint's info is close, but they put OPPO in place five, not Transsion.
Why Sales are Up and What Experts Think
Folks think good phones from big firms help keep sales up. Samsung did well with its new Galaxy S25 and cool mid-range models Galaxy A36 and A56. Francisco Geronimo at IDC said AI helps sell these phones in stores as folks get more into AI tech.
But, experts also see bad parts like tough politics, high costs, and money changes which hit cheap phone sales hard. With all this, IDC now thinks 2025 sales will only go up 0.6%.
China's Different Scene
In China, phone sales went down 4% from last year. A big help plan by the government had to stop in some spots to save money.
Here's what shifted:
- HUAWEI's Big Comeback: For the first time in four years, HUAWEI was top in China, sending out 12.5 million phones in Q2.
- Apple's Spot: Apple was five in China, with 9.6 million phones out. Yet, it might bounce back as China lets help cover foreign brands, leading Apple to drop prices on its iPhone 16 and 16 Pro.
