Apple dominated smartphone sales during 2025, and a new report revealed that it had the largest active device base globally among all brands.
This index is based on the number of devices actually used by customers, taking into account factors such as user loyalty to the ecosystem, customer retention rates, and device longevity.
According to Counterpoint Research’s Smartphone Installed Base Tracker data, 1 in 4 active smartphones worldwide in 2025 were iPhones.
Apple and Samsung alone also entered the “billion active devices” club, as they together accounted for 44% of the total global active base during the year.
Counterpoint analysts attribute this performance to the strength of the two companies’ ecosystems and the high level of long-term loyalty among users. Furthermore, Apple added more net new devices in 2025 than the next seven companies combined.
On the other hand, Xiaomi came in third place in terms of the number of active users, followed by Oppo and then Vivo, benefiting from the diversity of its devices in various price categories, in addition to its endeavor to strengthen its own ecosystems.
Transsion Group ranked sixth, driven by strong growth in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia markets, with Tecno, Itel and Infinix devices counted among its total numbers. While Huawei and Honor completed the top eight list, Honor officially announced that the number of its active devices exceeded 200 million devices.
As for Motorola and Realme, they were slightly outside the top eight, but Counterpoint analysts indicated that they were close to joining the club of 200 million active users soon.
