What you may not have anticipated (especially if you missed the market research firm's similar studies from previous years) is just how many of the top ten spots are captured by Apple and how few are going to Android handsets (from only one brand).
The iPhone 16 is followed by the 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro
Now that's what I call a dominant win for Apple, which not only managed to turn (almost) the entire iPhone 16 family from 2024 into an industry-leading hit in 2025, also propelling two different iPhone 17 models to last year's best-selling list mere months after their commercial debut.
While the ultra-high-end iPhone 17 Pro Max essentially matched the early popularity of the iPhone 16 Pro Max, climbing to the year's fourth place in global sales with just three and a half months of availability under its belt, the "vanilla" iPhone 17 very clearly exceeded the initial numbers of the non-Pro iPhone 16.
These lists are clearly very similar, but there are also crucial differences to note. | Image Credit -- Counterpoint Research
As such, the iPhone 17 eclipsed not only the aging iPhone 15, but Samsung's new state-of-the-art Galaxy S25 Ultra as well. If history is any indication, the 6.3-inch handset will comfortably rule this year's sales chart, especially if Apple doesn't come out with a "regular" iPhone 18 by the end of 2026, as many insiders claim.
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Compared to its own market-leading predecessor from 2024, the iPhone 16 already widened the gap to the 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro, laying the groundwork for what I expect to be a huge victory for the iPhone 17 in 2026. Until then, it's also worth mentioning that the iPhone 17 Pro is nowhere to be found among 2025's top-selling mobile devices, clearly getting off to a worse start than the 16 Pro back in the fall of 2024.
Are you surprised by anything in 2025's top ten chart?
That and the iPhone 16e's tenth position in 2025 sales make it a little harder to guess this year's top three, although what seems relatively safe to predict is that no Android-powered devices will come close to the podium in 2026 either.
The world's best-selling Android is... not the Galaxy S25 Ultra
And that's obviously a big problem for Samsung in terms of profit margins. What's worse is that the Galaxy S25, S25 Plus, S25 Edge, and even the upper mid-range Galaxy A56 are not ranked in the top ten for 2025, with the ultra-affordable Galaxy A16 5G and Galaxy A06 4G instead found in fifth and sixth, respectively.
The two low-end Androids have practically taken over from the Galaxy A15 5G and Galaxy A15 4G, but as you can imagine, the A06 is even humbler and cheaper than the A15 4G, thus most likely generating lower profits for Samsung.
Believe it or not, the Galaxy A16 5G has proven more popular than the Galaxy S25 Ultra. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
Of course, it's a lot more worrying for the world's number two smartphone vendor that the super-premium Galaxy S25 Ultra has dropped a place in 2025's top ten hierarchy compared to the S24 Ultra in 2024, being outsold by both the outdated iPhone 15 and the brand-new iPhone 17.
On the bright side, the gap between one of Samsung's costliest phones and the best-selling members of the Galaxy A family was smaller in 2025 than in 2024. Still, things are not looking very promising for the Galaxy S26 and S26 Ultra this year, especially if the former ends up costing more than the Galaxy S25.
So how will the 2026 chart look?
Normally, I'd say that such a thing is difficult to predict in January, but at the same time, it's impossible to ignore the many obvious similarities between the 2025 and 2024 lists and not be confident that the iPhone 17 will be (easily) the world's best-selling handset of 2026.
The iPhone 17 is perfectly positioned to top this year's global sales chart. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena
The iPhone 17 Pro Max is also virtually guaranteed to sit in second place, but while I do expect Apple to dominate the rest of the hierarchy as well, the other positions are indeed a little more difficult to guess.
If the iPhone 17e arrives at any point over the next couple of months or so, for instance, I can definitely see that model outselling its predecessor to sit in a much higher slot than tenth at the end of the year. The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, meanwhile, could greatly benefit from the "vanilla" iPhone 18's rumored delay to 2027, possibly becoming even bigger hits than the 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max quickly after their September 2026 release.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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