Even the biggest names in smartphones are struggling with sagging global demand

With the first quarter of 2025 over, we’re now seeing reports about how the major brands in the smartphone market fared against each other globally. In addition to understanding how these brands stack up, we’re now also getting data about the state of the overall industry. It appears the smartphone market is still growing, but maybe not as much as analysts predicted.

New data from Canalys states that smartphone shipments worldwide reached 296.9 million units in Q1 2025. As a result, the global smartphone market only saw a growth of 0.2%. According to the report, this is the third consecutive quarter that global smartphone market growth has slowed down.

The top achievers this time around are the usual suspects, including Samsung in first place (60.5 million units), Apple in second place (55 million units), and Xioami securing third place (41.8 million units). Samsung was reportedly boosted by the launch of the Galaxy S25 series and its A-series phones. Meanwhile, Apple had success in growing its market share in emerging Asia Pacific markets and the US. As for Xioami, it managed to further its presence in mainland China and overseas markets.

Although the global smartphone market grew, it looks like we’re starting to see drops in regional markets. Demand for smartphones seems to be in decline in markets that were once showing strong momentum. According to Principal Analyst at Canalys, Toby Zhu:

Markets that had shown strong momentum over the past year, such as India, Latin America, and the Middle East, are now experiencing notable declines in Q1 2025, indicating saturation in replacement demand for mass-market products.

Zhu also mentions that the European market is seeing a decline as well, despite a recent rebound. However, there are still a few markets that are showing strong demand, such as mainland China and Africa. It also appears that the US saw a 12% growth year over year (YoY) in Q1, thanks to Apple. The only problem is that Zhu expects there will be “considerable volatility over the next two to three quarters” in the US due to inventory corrections and weakening consumer confidence related to the tariff situation.