{"id":498007,"date":"2026-02-25T06:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498007\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T06:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T06:45:16","slug":"apple-broke-records-in-another-key-market-but-samsung-still-dominated-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/498007\/","title":{"rendered":"Apple broke records in another key market, but Samsung still dominated it"},"content":{"rendered":"

It may feel like there\u2019s barely any competition in the global smartphone market, but that\u2019s far from true. Last year, Apple clearly defeated Samsung in global shipments, narrowly missed taking the crown from Huawei in China, and completely lost the battle in India. A new report for the European smartphone market in 2025 reveals even more interesting details.Apple and Honor with record market shares in Europe
Apple claimed a record 27% share of the European smartphone market in 2025, according to a new report<\/a> from analytics firm Omdia. The company shipped 36.9 million iPhones in the region last year, which was a 6% growth compared to the previous year.\u00a0Honor also had a great year in Europe, breaking into the top five for the first time. The company recorded a 4% growth and shipped 3.8 million units, accounting for a 3% market share.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Market <\/p>\n

Market share of Europe\u2019s top smartphone vendors in 2025. | Image by Omdia<\/p>\n

Samsung remained the largest smartphone vendor in Europe with 46.6 million shipments, which is marginally higher than the 2024 results. The company is the undisputed leader in the region, as its market share has grown to 35%, compared to 34% last year.<\/p>\n

While Apple and Honor recorded growth, the overall European smartphone market declined by 1% to 134.2 million shipments. According to the researchers, the market was weighed down by sluggish demand and regulation around eco-designs and USB-C.Samsung made the best-selling model in Europe in 2025<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The best-selling smartphone models in Europe in 2024 and 2025. | Image by Omdia<\/p>\n

While Samsung\u2019s year started slow in Europe, in the second half sales took off. That was mainly driven by a discounted version of the Galaxy A16 and the strong performance of the Galaxy A56<\/a>. The Galaxy A56 was also the best-selling model, with the Galaxy A16 taking third place and the Galaxy A36 5G ending up sixth. The flagship Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a> was the tenth best-selling model in Europe.<\/p>\n

One of the surprising elements in Apple\u2019s success in Europe was the sales of the iPhone 16e<\/a>, which was among the company\u2019s top-shipping models. The main factor for the success is that it replaced the iPhone 14<\/a> and earlier models that were discontinued because they didn\u2019t support USB-C. The company\u2019s growth was mainly due to the sales of the iPhone 16<\/a>, iPhone 16 Pro Max<\/a>, and iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/a>, though the iPhone 16 Pro<\/a> and the iPhone 17<\/a> Pro also made it to the Top 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Samsung <\/p>\n

Samsung led on the European market, despite the lack of growth. | Image by Omdia<\/p>\n

Just like Samsung, Honor and Xiaomi also had the most success with their budget devices. The Honor X-series and Xiaomi\u2019s Redmi series performed well in Europe. That helped Xiaomi retain its third place and 16% market share, despite its sales dropping 1%. Motorola also had the same market share as in 2024, but its sales dropped 5%, mostly because of the subdued performance in the first half of the year.<\/p>\n

Can Apple win in 2026?
To put it simply\u2014no. While the momentum of the iPhone 17 series is great, Apple\u2019s plans for 2026 make it practically impossible to challenge Samsung\u2019s dominance. The company is rumored to split the launch of the iPhone 18<\/a> lineup and start with the premium iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone Pro Max this fall before launching the base model and the iPhone Air 2<\/a> in early 2027.<\/p>\n

Even if that wasn\u2019t the case, Samsung\u2019s lead in Europe is still too big, and Apple appears unable to respond in the most popular segment. While the iPhone 16e got some momentum that will serve the iPhone 17e<\/a>, Apple doesn\u2019t really dabble in the budget smartphone market, which is responsible for most of the volume.<\/p>\n

In fact, I don\u2019t think leading the shipment charts is that important for Apple. As long as it sells enough iPhones to keep its profits healthy, the company will undoubtedly feel good even without a European crown.<\/p>\n

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View Full Bio<\/p>\n

\n Ilia, a tech journalist at PhoneArena, has been covering the mobile industry since 2011, with experience at outlets like Forbes Bulgaria. Passionate about smartphones, tablets, and consumer tech, he blends deep industry knowledge with a personal fascination that began with his first Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices. Originally from Bulgaria and now based in Lima, Peru, Ilia balances his tech obsessions with walking his dog, training at the gym, and slowly mastering Spanish.\n <\/p>\n

Read the latest from Ilia Temelkov<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It may feel like there\u2019s barely any competition in the global smartphone market, but that\u2019s far from true.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498008,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[49,48,190,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-498007","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}