Smartphone Market Shaken by US Tariff War... "Possible Negative Growth This Year"

Counterpoint: "First-quarter growth rate at 3%, half of initial forecast"
Samsung regains top spot with strong Galaxy S25 and A series sales
Apple ranks second but achieves record first-quarter performance

The tariff war originating from the U.S. is casting a shadow over the smartphone market. There are forecasts that the global smartphone market could shift to negative growth this year.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research on the 16th, global smartphone shipments in the first quarter of this year grew by only 3% compared to the same period last year. This is half of Counterpoint's initial forecasted growth rate of 6%.

Counterpoint analyzed that the main reason was that major manufacturers took a conservative approach to inventory management as a risk management measure due to uncertainties related to tariffs.

Yang Wang, lead researcher at Counterpoint, said, "The heightened tariff uncertainties at the end of the quarter and cautious inventory management by manufacturers caused the lower-than-expected growth rate. Given the ongoing market uncertainties, it seems difficult to achieve the initially forecasted annual growth of 4%, and there is a high possibility of shifting to 0% or negative growth."

By manufacturer, Samsung Electronics reclaimed the top spot with a 20% market share. Samsung had lost the number one position to Apple with a 16% share in the fourth quarter of last year.

Park Jin-seok, lead researcher at Counterpoint, explained, "Samsung Electronics returned to the top as shipments increased due to the launch effects of the Galaxy S25 series and the new A series."

Apple fell to second place in terms of shipment volume but recorded the highest performance ever for a first quarter. Usually, Apple does not release new products in the first quarter, but this year it launched the iPhone 16e, which expanded its market share in some markets such as Japan.

Chinese brands also made significant progress. Xiaomi maintained its third place in the market with a 2% growth compared to the same period last year, and Huawei recorded the highest growth rate on a quarterly basis.