Research from Canalys (now part of Omdia) reveals that US smartphone shipments grew by 1 per cent in Q2 2025 as vendors continued to frontload device inventories amid tariff concerns.

The uncertain outcome of negotiations with China has accelerated supply chain reorientation. The share of US smartphone shipments assembled in China shrank from 61 per cent in Q2 2024 to 25 per cent in Q2 2025. Most of this decline has been picked up by India; the total volume of ‘Made-in-India’ smartphones grew 240 per cent year on year and now accounts for 44 per cent of smartphones imported into the US, up from only 13 per cent of smartphone shipments in Q2 2024. 

In Q2, iPhone shipments declined by 11 per cent year on year to 13.3 million units, a correction from the 25 per cent growth in Q1 2025. Samsung’s shipments grew 38 per cent year over year to 8.3 million units. Motorola continued its expansion in the US, growing 2 per cent to 3.2 million units. Google and TCL rounded off the top five, with Google growing 13 per cent to 0.8 million while TCL declined 23 per cent, shipping 0.7 million units.

Vendors accelerate manufacturing diversification amid shifting geopolitical landscape

“India became the leading manufacturing hub for smartphones sold in the US for the very first time in Q2 2025, largely driven by Apple’s accelerated supply chain shift to India amid an uncertain trade landscape between the US and China,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Canalys. “Apple has scaled up its production capacity in India over the last several years as a part of its ‘China Plus One’ strategy and has opted to dedicate most of its export capacity in India to supply the US market so far in 2025. Apple has begun manufacturing and assembling Pro models of the iPhone 16 series in India, but is still dependent on established manufacturing bases in China for the scaled supply needed for Pro models in the US. Samsung and Motorola have also increased their share of US-targeted supply from India, although their shifts are significantly slower and smaller in scale than Apple’s. Motorola, similar to Apple, has its core manufacturing hub in China, whereas Samsung relies mainly upon producing its smartphones in Vietnam.”

Vendors frontload shipments to mitigate tariff risk

“Vendors continue to frontload devices and maintain high inventory levels to best cope with the risk of tariffs coming into play later in the year,” said Runar Bjorhovde, Senior Analyst at Canalys. “Apple built up its inventories rapidly toward the end of Q1 and sought to maintain this level in Q2. Samsung scaled up its inventory stock in Q2, boosting its shipments to grow 38 per cent year on year, predominantly driven by Galaxy A-series devices. Yet, the market only grew 1 per cent despite vendors frontloading inventory, indicating tepid demand in an increasingly pressured economic environment and a widening gap between sell-in and sell-through. Even if smartphones remain exempted from tariffs, many other categories are impacted, which might greatly impact consumers’ spending patterns and keep smartphone demand modest in H2.”

Scale-driven polarisation intensifies as challengers struggle to justify US investment

“With the arrival of new requirements to local operations, uncertain tariff policies and pressured demand, it is becoming less attractive for mid-to-small-sized vendors to operate in the US, exemplified by HMD’s announcement to scale back its US operations,” added Bjorhovde. “Successful long-term strategies for smartphone vendors in the US require significant scale, but over 90 per cent of the market is held by the three largest vendors. That leaves a very small opportunity for the remaining vendors, focused on prepaid carrier slots or non-carrier-driven channel strategies. Currently, OnePlus and Nothing are attempting non-carrier-focused strategies, focusing on their direct websites, BestBuy, Walmart and Amazon, but their current scale remains limited, and ambitions are dependent upon scale in other regions. Reducing the large investments required to be included in portfolios or finding new incentives for vendors to build their own brick-and-mortar stores could help improve the market’s attractiveness.”

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Categories: Articles, Markets, Mobile, Research

Tags: apple, india, Motorola, Omdia, usa