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Apple's iPhone 16 Was the Best Selling Smartphone in Q1 2025

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During the first quarter of 2025, Apple's iPhone 16 was the best selling smartphone in the world, according to estimates provided by Counterpoint Research. After the ‌iPhone 16‌, the ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro Max, ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro, and the iPhone 15 were the other top four smartphones. Samsung's Galaxy A16 5G took the fifth spot in the rankings.

counterpoint q1 2025 smartphone sales
Last year, it was Apple's Pro iPhone that was the best seller. In Q1 2024, the iPhone 15 Pro Max was the top selling smartphone, narrowly beating out the iPhone 15.

Apple has narrowed the gap between its standard smartphones and its Pro lineup in terms of performance and feature set. The ‌iPhone 16‌ has an A18 chip that's almost as fast as the A18 Pro in the ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro Max, and it also has the same Action button and Camera Control button.

Of the top 10 best selling smartphones in Q1 2025, Apple secured five of them. The top four, and then the 10th spot with the ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus. Samsung's flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S25 Ultra, took the 7th spot, while the other smartphones on the list are lower cost options.

The $600+ iPhone 16e was only on sale for part of the quarter, but it did take the sixth spot in Counterpoint's top 10 list for March 2025, which was the first full month that it was available for purchase. The iPhone 16e is expected to sell better in its first year than the iPhone SE did during its first year thanks to its higher-end feature set.

Counterpoint's report focuses on rankings rather than unit sales, and while it does not break down sales by country, it does say that the ‌iPhone 16‌ sold particularly well in Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) market. In China, the ‌iPhone 16‌ Pro and Pro Max suffered because of government subsidies favoring lower-cost devices and competition from Chinese companies like Huawei.

Tag: Counterpoint

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Top Rated Comments

jz0309 Avatar
jz0309
15 months ago
yup, a clear indication that Apple is lagging, not innovativing, overpriced and doomed ...
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D
Dave-Z
15 months ago

I think that once people have tasted Apple's attention to reliability, particularly with mobile phones, they aren't wiling to risk that safe experience.
Being completely candid, I genuinely appreciate Apple's hardware. The MacBook Air is probably my favorite design for a laptop. At the same time, I hold the opinion that Apple's software (their operating systems) are lagging. They are filled with bugs; not show-stopping bugs, but little things (visual glitches, poor UI/UX, etc.). It's at the point now that while I do like the hardware, I've started using alternatives because they simply work better.

In the last few months I've been using a Galaxy S25 and it's been fantastic. I haven't experienced any UI glitches, so far only one bug occasionally surfaces (the Clock app doesn't let me snooze my alarm with the volume buttons sometimes), but it's otherwise been zero issues. Battery life is also substantially better. Compared to my iPhone it's just a much better experience. If I consider that I paid less after tax for the S25 than an iPhone 16e before tax, I can't honestly recommend iPhone unless there is a particular use-case that requires it.

To each their own, of course. I do hope that Apple starts putting the same amount of focus on their operating systems as they do on their custom silicon.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
coolfactor
15 months ago

yup, a clear indication that Apple is lagging, not innovativing, overpriced and doomed ...
It still surprises me how the tides have turned. Remember when Apple was the "other / weird / non-standard" brand?

I think that once people have tasted Apple's attention to reliability, particularly with mobile phones, they aren't wiling to risk that safe experience.

If only Apple could provide the same attention to detail to parts of macOS that have gone neglected for far too long.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
eoblaed Avatar
eoblaed
15 months ago

It still surprises me how the tides have turned. Remember when Apple was the "other / weird / non-standard" brand?
I remember when Apple was mocked after the '07 Macworld keynote, especially by Microsoft and Nokia. Essentially, "what does Apple know about making phones; it'll fail spectacularly". Whoops.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E
Entilzha
15 months ago

it's funny that the Pro models consistently outsell the “regular” models.

IMO the iPhone 16 is a "worst of both worlds" model. Not fancy enough to justify the price jump over the 16E, and not cheap enough to dissuade many buyers from getting the Pro.
The iPhone 16 outsold the Pro models. Sooooo…
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
P
Paddle1
15 months ago
This chart shows why the Plus model is being discontinued. The difference in position between it and the other 3 models is quite stark.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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