Hold onto your hats, folks, because something big is happening in the world of high-end phones. The new Pixel 10 series just hit the market, and early reports suggest Google has another hit on its hands. It seems Google’s Pixel smartphones are back among the top five premium brands across the globe. What’s even wilder is that Google is now the fastest-growing premium brand out there.
The Premium Phone Market Is Shifting
According to a report from Counterpoint Research, the entire market for premium smartphones is seeing good growth. That market went up by about 8% in the first half of 2025 compared to the last half of 2024. And guess what? Google Pixel phones are leading the pack in that growth.
This 8% growth is interesting, but we should remember that big names like the new iPhone often launch later in the year. Apple still holds the biggest piece of the pie, taking 62% of the market. This is not a surprise to anyone. However, there’s a small but important detail: Apple’s share was 65% last year, so it dropped a bit.
Samsung kept its second-place spot, holding 20% of the market. Its shipments grew by 8% in the first half of the year, which is a solid performance. This happened while Samsung released its own fancy phones, like the Galaxy S series. Two Chinese companies also made some impressive gains. Huawei saw its numbers jump by 24%, grabbing 8% of the total market, up from 7% last year. Xiaomi’s growth was even more striking, shooting up by 55%.
Google’s Pixel Phones Are on a Roll
But the real showstopper here is Google. Its Pixel phones have made it the fastest-growing premium brand right now. The numbers from Counterpoint are pretty jaw-dropping. Google Pixel saw a massive 105% increase in annual growth during the first half of 2025. This huge jump comes from strong sales of the Pixel 9 series. Google also expanded into new countries and pushed harder with its marketing campaigns.
Other facts show that Google’s sales have doubled compared to last year. People are trusting Pixel devices more and more, which is a great sign. While Google Pixel is growing incredibly fast, it’s still playing catch-up to the big dogs like Apple and Samsung. Apple sells around 220 to 230 million iPhones each year, and Samsung moves about 250 to 270 million phones.
What Google has managed to do is secure a real spot in the top five smartphone brands globally, at least for their premium models. This is a big deal. Both Samsung and Apple will definitely be keeping a very close eye on what Google does next.