Omdia: Apple and HONOR Claim Record Market Shares as Europe’s Smartphone Shipment Dips 1% in 2025

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#Consumer–The latest research from Omdia reveals that the European smartphone market declined by 1% in 2025 to 134.2 million units, marking the end of a disruptive year defined by subdued demand and new regulations requiring eco-design and USB-C.

Samsung remained Europe’s largest smartphone vendor, with shipments marginally growing to 46.6 million units. After a slow 1H25 caused by the absence of the Galaxy A0x series, Samsung bounced back in 2H25, particularly by leveraging a discounted version of the Galaxy A16 alongside strong momentum for the Galaxy A56, which was the top-selling model in Europe in 2025.

Apple grew 6% to 36.9 million in 2025, reaching a record-high 27% market share in Europe, as iPhone refresh demand surged, boosted by strong interest from both consumers and businesses. Its performance was particularly driven by iPhone 16, the Pro Max version of both iPhone 16 and iPhone 17, and iPhone 16e. Compared to other markets worldwide, iPhone 16e was among Apple’s top-shipping models, largely driven by it replacing iPhone 14 and earlier models, which were discontinued in late 2024 due to the USB-C regulation.

Xiaomi remained third in the ranking at 16% market share as it declined 1% to 21.8 million units, largely driven by its budget-friendly Redmi series. Towards the end of 2025, Xiaomi’s overseas expansion of the ‘new retail strategy’ reached Europe, highlighted by several Xiaomi Stores opening and the company’s wider ecosystem portfolio expanding.

Motorola remained fourth despite declining 5% to 7.7 million units. Its shipments dipped in 1H25 as demand remained subdued, but recovered with strong momentum in the second half, highlighted by double-digit growth in 4Q. Its resilient performance was driven by continued successful expansion in key markets, including Poland, Italy, Spain, and the UK.

HONOR climbed into Europe’s top five for the first time as it grew 4% to 3.8 million units, particularly by leveraging its affordable X-series. The higher X-series focus highlights an increased focus on growing share, presence and relevance within its key channel partners –helping to build a foundation to support its premium ambitions.

“Europe’s five largest smartphone vendors continued to gain combined share, reflecting the importance of scale for long-term success in the region,” commented Runar Bjorhovde, Senior Analyst at Omdia. “Even though shares continue to shift towards the largest players, fierce competition within the channel continues to reign across all markets, increasing the need to differentiate and understand how to most effectively capture customers. The fierce channel competition has also created a growing willingness amongst sales partners to introduce new vendors with attractive products and differentiated brands into their portfolios. Even though many vendors beyond the top 5 faced big hurdles last year, vivo, London-headquartered Nothing and Amsterdam-headquartered Fairphone grew by high double digits. These vendors are excellent examples that there are opportunities through strong differentiation even in such an established, mature and highly competitive region.”

“In 2026, concerns around memory pricing have created a challenging outlook. In Europe, which made up just 10.8% of all smartphones shipped worldwide in 2025, the biggest question is which vendors are most likely to prioritize the region if hit by price increases or supply shortages,” added Bjorhovde. “We expect the largest vendors to be more resilient due to their scale and price-band coverage. However, for many vendors, it will be critical to find the right balance between different regions and markets. Scaling a smartphone business within Europe can be very gradual and challenging, requiring consistent investment over time, making it very costly to scale back. Europe’s large premium segment makes it attractive to many vendors in the long-run alongside a less price-sensitive mass-market segment.”

“However, even in the face of short-term difficulties, capturing interest and demand from customers must be the top priority for all industry players. Both vendors and channel partners need to find key differentiation points, target core influence stages in the buying journey, and retain customers more effectively than ever before.”

Omdia’s analysts will be at Mobile World Congress 2026: Book a meeting or interview here to discuss these findings and more.

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