Huawei’s growth giving tough spot to global smartphone brands: Counterpoint

Counterpoint has released the Q1 2025  global smartphone market report, highlighting top brands and some Chinese companies like Huawei. While the Pura phone maker didn’t receive any place in this listing, it gave a tough spot to its rivals.

The market research firm Counterpoint says that Huawei has shown rapid growth in the smartphone industry, giving strong competition to global phone brands.

Inputs further state that Huawei is the biggest OEM in China for the first quarter of this year – thanks to the newly formed 16:10 wide screen Pura X foldable handset.

On the flip side, the company is also launching Kirin 5G chip-powered top-end models like Mate XT, Mate X6, and other models in the global market that are getting significant attention for their innovative design, powerful camera, and AI features.

Counterpoint says:

“Huawei was the biggest OEM in China in Q1 (2025), while Honor as well as Motorola showed high growth in multiple markets.”

Huawei is now preparing new Pura and Nova models in China. One of these debuted in the form of a unique vertical folding phone. It would be worth seeing if the company will launch the trendy foldable for global consumers.

According to the report, Apple has ranked first with 19% market share and 4% YoY growth. The credit goes to the iPhone 16e launch that helped the OEM to record double-digit growth in various markets like Japan, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Huawei’s growth giving a tough spot to global smartphone brands in Q1 2025 (Image Credits: Counterpoint)

Samsung grabbed the second spot but with a decline of 5% year-on-year. Xiaomi gained the third position with a 5% YoY increase and 14% of the market share.

Vivo’s smartphone sales jumped 6% in the first quarter of this year, with 8% of the market share. OPPO has dropped by 1% and holds 8% of the market share.

Overall, the global smartphone market sales increased by 3% YoY during the first quarter of 2025, followed by a subsidy program in China. Senior Analyst Ankit Malhotra says:

“The market got off to a mixed start in 2025, where Q1 saw continued improvement in economic conditions, particularly in emerging markets. But mature markets like North America, Europe, and China showed signs of fatigue after a recovery in 2024. Sales in January were particularly strong, with a subsidy-led demand boost in China.”

(source)