Global premium smartphone sales rose 8% YoY in H1 2025, reaching the highest-ever mark for an H1; Apple grew 3% YoY, capturing a 62% share of the premium market
- The global premium smartphone market's unit sales grew 8% YoY in H1 2025, reaching the highest-ever mark for an H1.
Context & Ripple Effects
Premium phones had already become the revenue center of the handset market: premium sales accounted for more than half of smartphone revenue in 2022, while higher-priced devices lifted the segment’s average selling price.
This H1 result accelerates that arc, but Apple’s 62% share is below the 71% premium-market share reported for 2023. The category is expanding faster than Apple’s premium sales, creating more room for other brands within the high-end tier.
First-order effects
- Premium smartphone unit demand grew 8% year over year to a first-half record, strengthening the high-end segment’s contribution to handset sales.
- Apple remains the clear premium-market leader at 62%, but its 3% growth trails the category, so its share of the expanding segment has narrowed relative to prior coverage.
Second-order effects
- The non-Apple portion of the premium market is growing faster than Apple’s, increasing the incentive for rival handset makers to compete for high-end buyers rather than rely solely on lower-priced volume.
- A larger premium mix reinforces the value of differentiated flagship devices and the higher pricing that earlier coverage associated with the $1,000-plus tier.
Third-order effects
- If premium demand continues to outgrow the overall handset market, industry revenue and product strategy will become increasingly concentrated in flagship tiers rather than unit-share competition alone.
- Apple’s still-dominant but lower premium share suggests a market structure in which leadership can persist while competitive gains accrue at the margins to other premium brands.
The trend: The smartphone market is premiumizing: high-end demand is expanding, while Apple’s dominance is being tested by faster growth among the rest of the premium field.