{"id":270771,"date":"2026-02-06T14:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/270771\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:31:09","slug":"google-pixel-9a-was-a-holiday-hit-as-apple-dominated-late-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/270771\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Pixel 9a was a holiday hit as Apple dominated late 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The numbers are in, and it seems Google\u2019s Pixel 9a was a hit among the holidays in a US smartphone market that Apple dominated even more than it usually does.<\/p>\n

In the United States, the smartphone market is Apple\u2019s to lose. That\u2019s just a fact, and the numbers back it up. In Q4 2025 \u2013 i.e. the holiday season \u2013 Apple took a massive 69% share of the overall smartphone market, up from 65% in 2024. That\u2019s with the US smartphone market as a whole going up a mere 1% in the same quarter.<\/p>\n

Counterpoint reports<\/a> that the fairly stagnant growth overall can be attributed to the sub-$300 segment, which saw \u201cweaker demand\u201d and a drop of 7% year-over-year. Motorola was the biggest name in this segment in part thanks to the late-year launches of the Moto G (2026) series.<\/p>\n

The segment that actually grew the most, though, was the mid-range $300-600 price point, which Counterpoint says grew by 27% year-over-year. That wasn\u2019t thanks to Samsung or Motorola, which have mostly abandoned that price segment in the US, but thanks to the iPhone 16e and the Google Pixel 9a.<\/p>\n

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The breakdown wasn\u2019t shared, but Counterpoint says that Google gained \u201chigher shares in this segment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Premium devices are generally the major driving factor of sales in Q4 due to the heavy emphasis on postpaid deals. Apple was able to benefit from these deals, as many offers were targeted toward iPhone and iOS device bundles. However, this year the biggest YoY growth came from the mid-range price band ($300-$600), which grew 27% YoY. While it is still a relatively minor segment of the overall market, this growth shows that consumers are opting for more budget-friendly devices due to current macroeconomic conditions. This has helped Apple and Google gain higher shares in this segment with their iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a devices, respectively. Samsung<\/a> and Motorola, on the other hand, lost share in the segment due to the increased competition.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report further brings out that the ongoing memory shortage is likely to have a major impact on the sub-$300 market which, clearly, was already struggling in the US last year, and also questions \u201cwhether the growth in the $300-$600 segment continues into 2026.\u201d It also adds that \u201cfurther growth\u201d in that market segment, \u201cand a slowdown in the premium segment would indicate a wider trend of users \u2018buying down\u2019 as the macroeconomic situation in the US is likely to remain uncertain for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google, meanwhile, has confirmed that Pixel 10a will launch on February 18, with sales ongoing for the Pixel 9a.<\/p>\n

More on Google Pixel:<\/p>\n

Follow Ben:\u00a0Twitter\/X<\/a>,\u00a0Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, and\u00a0Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

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