Apple regained the top spot in global smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2025, while its stock price surged, helping its market capitalization return to the $3 trillion mark as Wall Street temporarily eased concerns about the impact of US tariff policies.

According to data from research firm Counterpoint Research released on April 14, Apple accounted for 19% of the global smartphone market share in the first quarter of 2025, surpassing rival Samsung (18%).

The success was driven by strong iPhone demand in key emerging markets like Japan and India, helping to offset flat or declining sales in major markets like the US, Europe and China, where Apple faces fierce competition from domestic brands like Huawei and a lack of groundbreaking AI features.

Separate data from the International Data Corporation (IDC), which primarily tracks shipments, shows that total global smartphone shipments grew 1.5% in the first quarter of 2025.

IDC also noted that Apple has been proactively ramping up its supply of goods to the US in anticipation of potential tariffs under President Donald Trump.

Specifically, Apple is said to have chartered special cargo flights to transport about 600 tons of iPhones, equivalent to 1.5 million units, from India to the US to avoid taxes.

The positive developments in the stock market come after the Trump administration announced late last week that cell phones, computers and semiconductor chips would be exempted from new tariffs.

The decision provides some reassurance to Apple, one of the companies most affected by the tariffs because most of its key products such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook are manufactured in China and other Asian countries.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley estimate the exemption could help Apple reduce its annual tariff burden from $44 billion to about $7 billion.

However, analysts and government officials cautioned that the tariff exemptions are temporary and could change in the coming weeks. President Trump said on April 14 that he had spoken to and “helped” Apple CEO Tim Cook, but stressed that the ultimate goal is to “make America great again.” Trump has previously called on Apple to bring manufacturing back to the United States.

"The US government's temporary suspension of tariffs on smartphone imports from China provides temporary relief to US companies, but the heavy dependence on the Chinese supply chain remains as tariffs continue to fluctuate," said Ryan Reith, vice president of IDC's global device tracking group.

Uncertainty about future tariffs is part of the reason Apple’s stock rally has been relatively muted compared to its earlier declines, with the stock still down nearly 9% in April 2025 and down 11% in Q1 2025, its worst quarter since 2023.

In that context, Counterpoint predicts that the global smartphone market may decline in 2025 due to tariff-related uncertainties.

According to the company's data, Xiaomi continued to hold the third position in terms of sales in the first quarter of 2025, followed by Vivo in fourth place and OPPO in fifth place./.

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/apple-dan-dau-doanh-so-smartphone-toan-cau-trong-quy-1-nam-2025-post1027857.vnp