Premium demand lifts smartphone shipments despite chip shortages

Global smartphone shipments rose 2.3% year on year to 336.6 million units in the fourth quarter of 2025, shrugging off ongoing chip supply constraints and buoyed by sustained demand for premium devices.

According to IDC, the market grew despite a memory shortage driven by suppliers including Samsung, SK Hynix and Micron diverting production towards higher-bandwidth chips used in AI accelerators and servers. RAM prices were reported to have quadrupled quarter on quarter, adding further pressure to device makers.

IDC said growth was underpinned by strong demand at the premium end of the market, with foldable smartphones showing “strong momentum”. Consumers were also incentivised to upgrade ahead of expected price rises linked to tighter component supply. Total smartphone shipments for 2025 reached 1.26 billion units, up from 1.24 billion in 2024.

Nabila Popal, senior research director for worldwide client devices at IDC, said the market had shown “remarkable resilience” in the face of multiple headwinds.

Apple and Samsung were the main contributors to growth, posting year-on-year shipment increases of 6.3% and 7.9% respectively. Apple led the market in Q4 with shipments of 81.3 million units, giving it just under a 25% share, followed by Samsung with 61.2 million. Xiaomi ranked third with 37.8 million units, while Vivo and Oppo shipped 27 million and 26.9 million units respectively. Other vendors accounted for a combined 102.1 million units.

For the full year, Apple shipped 247.8 million smartphones, capturing a 19.7% market share, narrowly ahead of Samsung on 241.2 million units (19.1%). Xiaomi followed with 165.3 million units (13.1%), while Vivo and Oppo shipped 103.9 million (8.2%) and 102 million units (8.1%) respectively.

More Articles you may be Interested in...