Fresh data shows Apple captured its largest share of the U.S. smartphone market on record in the final quarter of 2025, widening the gap with Samsung as overall market growth remained flat.
Counterpoint Research reports that U.S. smartphone sales grew just 1% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025, held back by a 7% drop in devices priced below $300.
In contrast to the overall market, Apple expanded its U.S. smartphone share from 65% in Q4 2024 to an all-time high of 69% in Q4 2025, while Samsung’s share dropped from 18% to 13%.
The firm adds that across all of 2025, Apple also edged out Samsung in the global smartphone sell-in market share, though by a slim margin of just one percentage point.
Counterpoint says Apple’s U.S. gains were driven by strong sales of the iPhone 16e and the iPhone 17 series in both mid-range and premium segments, combined with aggressive carrier promotions from AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The iPhone 17 Pro Max emerged as the best-selling model across all three carriers, while the iPhone 16e saw its highest monthly sales in December.
“Premium devices were generally the major driving force behind Q4 sales due to heavy emphasis on postpaid deals, many of which were targeted toward iPhone and iOS device bundles,” said Senior Research Analyst Maurice Klaehner.
Klaehner added that the strongest year-over-year growth came from the mid-range segment, priced between $300 and $600, where sales jumped 27%. Apple and Google were key beneficiaries, with the iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a gaining share.
The report also points to continued challenges at the lower end of the market. Counterpoint expects an ongoing memory supply crunch to weigh on the sub-$300 segment, as bills of materials for many manufacturers could rise by 15% or more over the next two quarters, disproportionately affecting budget devices.
This record U.S. market share follows other strong results for Apple. The company reported a quarterly iPhone revenue record of $85.27 billion in fiscal Q1 2026, and iPhone models accounted for seven of the top ten best-selling smartphones globally in 2025.
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