Apple closed 2025 with its strongest grip on the US smartphone market in history. During Q4 2025, the company captured 69 percent of all smartphone sales, driven by heavy carrier promotions and strong demand for the iPhone 17 lineup. This surge also fed into Apple’s record $143.8 billion revenue in fiscal Q1 2026, where iPhone sales alone made up more than half of total revenue.
Counterpoint Research confirmed this dominance in its Monthly US Channel Share Smartphone Tracker. The firm reported that overall US smartphone sales rose just 1 percent year over year, yet Apple still managed to grow its market share from 65 percent in Q4 2024 to 69 percent in Q4 2025, while Samsung fell from 18 percent to 13 percent.
Apple locked down the US market
Carrier promotions played a big role in Apple’s record quarter. AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon all pushed iPhone deals hard during the holiday season, and customers responded.
AT&T recorded its highest Apple sales share ever at 89 percent, while T-Mobile and Verizon also posted higher Apple shares than a year earlier. The iPhone 17 Pro Max ended up as the top-selling model across all three carriers, showing that even in a tight economy, buyers still paid for Apple’s premium devices.
At the same time, Apple also covered the mid-range and prepaid segments well. The iPhone 16e performed especially strongly in national retail and prepaid channels and hit its best sales month in December. High customer churn in the US market also helped Apple pull in switchers across price points.
The wider market showed mixed signals, even as Apple surged.
- US smartphone sales rose 1 percent year over year in Q4 2025
- Mid-range phones priced $300 to $600 grew 27 percent year over year
- Premium phones above $600 stayed flat
- Sub $300 phones fell 7 percent year over year
Senior Research Analyst Maurice Klaehne said, “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.”
He added, “This year the biggest YoY growth came from the mid-range price band $300 to $600, which grew 27 percent YoY. This has helped Apple and Google gain higher shares in this segment with their iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a devices.”
Samsung and Motorola lost ground in this mid-range space because of heavier competition from Apple and Google.
Apple and rivals
Apple would not launch the iPhone 18 family until Q3 2026, but the iPhone 17e should help keep sales steady through the first half of the year. Even if memory costs rise, Apple can lean on its $30.013 billion Services business from Q1 2026 to absorb some of that pressure.
Samsung plans to fight back with the Galaxy S26 lineup and new foldable phones later in the year, backed by aggressive promotions. Still, Apple enters 2026 from a position of strength that no other brand in the US market matches.
Q4 2025 US smartphone snapshot
- Apple market share: 69 percent
- Samsung market share: 13 percent
- Apple share a year earlier: 65 percent
- Samsung share a year earlier: 18 percent
- AT&T Apple sales share: 89 percent
- Top selling model across carriers: iPhone 17 Pro Max
Apple now controls more than two thirds of all smartphone sales in the US. As 2026 begins, rivals face the hard task of breaking a grip that looks stronger than ever.
