Thanks to IT House netizens Xi Chuang and SNOS Snow for submitting clues!
IT House reported on March 9 that according to TrendForce’s latest smartphone research, thanks to the momentum of Apple’s new phones in the fourth quarter of 2025, the total number of global smartphone production reached 337 million units, a quarterly increase of 2.7%. In addition, Apple and Samsung will both produce nearly 240 million units in 2025, ranking first in the world.
TrendForce said that in the first half of 2025, the smartphone market will benefit from China's market subsidy policies, and in the second half of the year, there will be contributions from the traditional peak season. The annual production volume will be approximately 1.254 billion units, an annual increase of 2.5%. In 2026, due to the surge in memory prices and the sharp increase in the cost of smartphones, global production scale is expected to decrease by about 10% per year to 1.135 billion units. Brand manufacturers are faced with the dilemma of "increasing prices to ensure profits" and "reducing regulations to ensure quantity", and the low-end market will bear the brunt.
IT Home attaches the production performance of major brands in 2025 analyzed by TrendForce:
Apple
Apple's iPhone 17 series benefited from affordable terminal pricing and successful sales. In the fourth quarter, mobile phone production increased by more than 50% quarter-on-quarter to about 87 million units, a new single-quarter high. If it can achieve significant profit margins in terminal pricing in 2026, it will help maintain production and sales performance.
Samsung
Samsung's total production volume in the fourth quarter of 2025 was approximately 58.2 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.1%. Due to its high proportion of high-end products and the group's vertical integration advantages, it is expected to maintain stability or have the opportunity to expand its market share through a slow increase or flat terminal selling price strategy in 2026.
Xiaomi (including Redmi and POCO)
In the fourth quarter of 2025, Xiaomi (including Redmi and POCO) not only adjusted its inventory in the previous quarter, but also adjusted its production in advance to cope with the impact of rising memory prices due to the high proportion of low-end products. Production in this quarter decreased by approximately 7% in several quarters, and its annual output was close to 170 million units, ranking third in the world. It is expected that it will increase the proportion of mid-to-high-end models in 2026 to stabilize profits.
OPPO (including OnePlus and realme)
OPPO (including OnePlus and realme) considers that the sub-brand realme focuses on low-priced and high-performance products and is severely affected by component prices. It will reduce the proportion of realme low-end models starting from the end of 2025 to maintain group operations. OPPO's mobile phone production in 2025 will be approximately 143 million units, ranking fourth.
vivo (including iQOO)
The fifth one is vivo (including iQOO), which cautiously controlled production in the fourth quarter of 2025, with output falling by about 16% quarter-on-quarter. In addition to rising memory prices, competition from Huawei's Nova series also caused pressure.
Transsion (including TECNO, Infinix and itel)
Sixth-ranked Transsion (including TECNO, Infinix and itel) significantly lowered its mobile phone production volume in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 21.1 million units, a quarterly decrease of 28%. Since the brand is highly focused on low-end models, lowering production not only relieves inventory control pressure, but also prepares for the possibility of subsequent sales slowdown in emerging markets.
Honor
Honor, ranked seventh, will ramp up production at the end of 2025, driving a 7% quarterly increase in production in the fourth quarter. However, in 2026, it and Xiaomi, Oppo, vivo and other brands will face dual pressures such as competition from Huawei and rising memory costs.
Lenovo (including Motorola)
Lenovo's (including Motorola) mobile phone production performance in the fourth quarter of 2025 was roughly the same as the previous quarter, with annual output of approximately 61 million units, ranking eighth in the world. It is expected that the downward revision ratio of the brand's output in 2026 will be relatively restrained. In addition to benefiting from its mostly sales model with operators, the scale of its PC business also helps to obtain better memory resources.
