The latest numbers from research firm IDC show that Samsung and Apple continue to lead the worldwide smartphone market, but Chinese handset maker Huawei is placing increasing pressure on the industry giants after experiencing strong 60.9% growth compared to the year-ago quarter.
IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reveals that Samsung continues to be the top smartphone vendor with 23.8% market share, shipping an estimated 84.5 million smartphones in the third quarter of the calendar year, compared to 23.9% market share and 79.6 million smartphones shipped in the year-ago quarter.
Apple trailed in second with 13.5% market share after shipping 48 million smartphones in the calendar third quarter, compared to 11.8% market share and 39.3 million smartphones shipped in the year-ago quarter -- a 22.2% year-over-year increase, which cut away at Samsung's market lead.
Apple's growth can be attributed to strong iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus sales, which Apple says has led to the highest rate of Android switchers it has ever measured. The new smartphones set a record with 13 million sales over their September launch weekend. Apple released its complete FY Q4 financial results yesterday.
Huawei also closed the gap on Samsung and Apple due to strong growth in China and Europe. The Shenzhen-based company was the third-largest smartphone vendor, a position that previously belonged to Chinese rival Xiaomi, with 7.5% market share and 26.5 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter.
Lenovo and Xiaomi rounded off the top five largest smartphone vendors with nearly equal 5.3% and 5.2% market share respectively. Lenovo shipped an estimated 18.8 million smartphones, while Xiaomi shipped an estimated 18.3 million smartphones. All other vendors combined to ship an estimated 159.1 million smartphones.
Overall smartphone shipments totaled 355.2 million worldwide in the third quarter, up 6.8% from the 332.6 million units shipped in the year-ago quarter, marking the second highest level of smartphone shipments for a single quarter ever. The growth was driven by new flagship devices such as the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6 edge+ and Galaxy Note5.
Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 17 series on Tuesday, September 9, and last-minute rumors about the devices continue to surface.
The latest info comes from a leaker known as Majin Bu, who has shared alleged images of Apple's Clear Case for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, or at least replicas.
Image Credit: @MajinBuOfficial
The images show three alleged changes compared to Apple's iP...
Thursday August 28, 2025 4:08 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
An iPhone 17 announcement is a dead cert for September 2025 – Apple has already sent out invites for an "Awe dropping" event on Tuesday, September 9 at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. The timing follows Apple's trend of introducing new iPhone models annually in the fall.
At the event, Apple is expected to unveil its new-generation iPhone 17, an all-new ultra-thin iPhone 17...
Monday September 1, 2025 4:35 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series this month, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive.
If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming to...
Friday August 29, 2025 4:54 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple and Samsung have reportedly issued cease-and-desist notices to Xiaomi in India for an ad campaign that directly compares the rivals' devices to Xiaomi's products. The two companies have threatened the Chinese vendor with legal action, calling the ads "disparaging."
Ads have appeared in local print media and on social media that take pot shots at the competitors' premium offerings. One...
Apple is preparing to release iOS 18.7 for compatible iPhone models, according to evidence of the update in the MacRumors visitor logs.
We expect iOS 18.7 to be released in September, alongside iOS 26. The update will likely include fixes for security vulnerabilities, but little else.
iOS 18.7 will be one of the final updates ever released for the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR,...
Another hint has surfaced that Apple is preparing to eliminate the physical SIM card tray from iPhones in more countries this year.
In particular, a source familiar with the matter has informed MacRumors that retail employees at Apple Authorized Resellers in the EU are required to complete a training course related to iPhones with eSIM support by Friday, September 5. There are 27 countries...
Again, Samsung is too focused on the wrong competitor. Huawei/Xiaomi are eating their lunch.
Beware, because Huawei/Xiaomi is not only chasing Samsung. Premium pricing begs for consistently premium experiences that easily differentiate from cheap clones. But cheap clone makers keep on trying, copying premium features and incorporating them into their cheaper-to-much-cheaper offerings. Eventually, there's so many premium features in the cheap clones that it becomes hard to rationalize continuing to pay the premium.
See the IBM PC story: a premium computer in its day made by a well-respected, premium company who then suffered an "attack of the clones." What happened there?
Once again, this appears to be about shipments, not purchases. I'll wait till actual sales figures come out before rushing to judgement.
If Samsung and others phones weren't being sold, retailers wouldn't stock them. So.. we can assume a very large percentage of these phones are being sold, and a very small number being returned to the manufacturer.
... Still thinking about Steve Jobs in 2007, during iPhone keynote when he said he only wanted 1% of the Market Share... Almost 9 years after, Apple represents 14% of the market share and 60% of the global smartphone profits (if not more...)
it always amazes me how a company (Samsung) can have such a big lead and loose lots of money while the second placer with a much smaller share makes tons of money. (This is all with respect to the mobile devision of samsung). Guess they spend too money on marketing and don't charge enough for their devices (especially the lower end ones, that give market share but don't make any money)
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more. Developer beta available now ahead of public beta in July.
