The smartphone world is always buzzing, ready for the next big thing. Yet, sometimes the biggest stories aren’t about the flashiest new devices. Take Samsung, for example. They just widened their lead in global smartphone sales last quarter. This happened even as the wider market started to slow down a bit. Worries about new US tariffs played a part in this slowdown.
Samsung’s Everyday Heroes Drive Growth
A new report from IDC shines a light on Samsung’s success. The company saw a 7.9% growth year-over-year compared to the second quarter of 2024. Samsung now holds 19.7% of the global market. They shipped 58 million smartphones between April and June of this year. This big jump wasn’t thanks to their high-end Galaxy S25 series. Instead, strong sales of the mid-range Galaxy A36 and A56 models boosted Samsung’s dominant position. It seems everyday phones are the true power players.
Apple holds onto second place globally. They sold 46.4 million iPhones last quarter, showing a 1.5% improvement. Even with this growth, Apple’s global market share only grew by a tiny 0.1% compared to the same period last year. Samsung, on the other hand, grew its share by 1.3%. This small gain for Apple is largely due to lower demand in China.
Behind Apple and Xiaomi’s Slower Pace
Xiaomi landed in third place. They sold 42.5 million units and captured 14.4% of the market share. Vivo came in fourth with 27.1 million units shipped, taking 9.2% of the market. Rounding out the top five is Transsion. While they sold 25.1 million smartphones, their various brands actually saw a 1.7% drop in sales compared to the second quarter of 2024.
IDC points to several reasons for this slower growth. Things like new tariffs, people losing jobs, and rising prices made consumers less willing to buy new phones. This slowdown happened after a very strong start to the year in the first quarter. People on tighter budgets simply decided to hold onto their current phones a bit longer.
The big start of Q2 2025 🥇 is @Samsung, which outperformed the market and consolidated its smartphone leadership. With the new Galaxy Z Fold 7, Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE launched last week at the #GalaxyUnpacked, the momentum will continue in Q3 @NabilaPopal… pic.twitter.com/A6CV5dkucc
— Francisco Jeronimo (@fjeronimo) July 14, 2025
The Market’s Surprising Growth Streak
These reasons can explain some of the odd results from IDC’s numbers. For example, they might tell us why a company like Transsion, which owns brands like Tecno and Infinix, saw fewer units sold. This drop happened even as the overall market continued to grow.
Despite some gloomy news in the report, the second quarter of 2025 marked the eighth straight quarter of growth for the smartphone market. That’s a truly impressive run, one we haven’t seen since 2013. IDC credits this steady rise to “AI integration in new models.” Whether you believe mobile AI is a huge deal or not, eight quarters of growth in a row is a strong sign of life for the industry. You can read the full IDC report here: IDC Report.