Apple will take Samsung's phone crown for the first time in 14 years – and it's all thanks to the iPhone 17

• Apple is set to grab 19.4% of smartphone sales in 2025
• It would put Apple just ahead of Samsung
• Samsung has held top spot for the past 14 years

There's about to be a new smartphone sales champion for 2025: Apple is reportedly going to be top of the leaderboard for phone units shipped globally this year, ending a 14-year run of Samsung being in the number one spot.

This comes from the analysts from Counterpoint (via The Verge), so these sales are still a prediction for now, but Apple is on course to shift 243 million phones in 2025, Counterpoint says, a 19.4% share of the market overall.

It would put Apple a single percentage point above Samsung, which is expected to end 2025 having sold 235 million phones. Apple's strong performance will help push smartphone sales up by 3.3% year on year, the report says.

Stronger-than-expected demand for the iPhone 17 series is apparently part of the reason behind Apple's success. According to Counterpoint, Apple sold 12 percent more iPhone 17 and iPhone Air models compared to the four iPhone 16 phones across the same period – even factoring in the rumored weak sales for the iPhone Air.

iPhone demand will remain high

"Consumers who purchased smartphones during the COVID-19 boom are now entering their upgrade phase," says Counterpoint's Yang Wang. "Furthermore, 358 million second-hand iPhones were sold between 2023 and Q2 2025. These users are also likely to upgrade to a new iPhone in the coming years."

A combination of these and other factors (including lower-than-expected tariffs) are likely to continue to drive strong demand for iPhones in the coming months. Counterpoint reckons that Apple could hold on to its top spot until 2029 – so your move, Samsung.

Samsung sales are said to still be up this year, especially in emerging and less developed markets, but not enough to take top spot in smartphone sales – at least according to Counterpoint's data, which is based on information from the supply chain and retailers.

The report also backs up rumors that we're going to see both an iPhone 17e and a foldable iPhone at some point in 2026. We've also heard that Apple might rejig its iPhone launch schedule next year, with only the Pro versions of the iPhone 18 arriving in September.

Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.