Google's Pixel 9 surges to top premium smartphone, reporting 105% Year-Over-Year growth

What you need to know

• Google became the fastest growing premium smartphone brand with 105% YoY growth in early 2025.
• Apple leads the premium market with 62% share, despite only a 3% YoY growth.
• Foldable smartphones remain niche, while 80% of high-end sales focus on GenAI capabilities.

New data suggests that more people are spending on premium smartphones as their sales have shot up by 8% YoY in the first half of 2025, according to Counterpoint Research's new report.

The research firm says that this high shift was brought in by "strong premiumization,” meaning premium devices have become easily available thanks to increased financing options and expanded trade-in programs.

What's more interesting is that while all the brands showed an uptick in sales, Google outshone as the fasted growing premium smartphone brand seeing 105% YoY growth. The report suggests that its sales basically doubled since last year, as more people are opting to buy the Pixel 9 series.

Google has been pushing into new markets and ramping up marketing for the Pixel phones. The company has been leaning into making these devices stand out by focusing on its AI features and super clean software, rather than just talking about specs, which has really worked in the tech giant's favor.

That said, Apple continued to reign as the largest brand during H1, despite only seeing a 3% YoY growth, it took up 62% of the overall premium smartphone market. While Samsung took the 2nd spot, on the list, seeing a 7% growth, thanks to the AI-powered Galaxy S25 series, which seems to have outdone its predecessor (20% market space).

"Going forward, the Z Fold 7 is also expected to perform better than its predecessor owing to significantly upgraded hardware," Counterpoint added.

Speaking of Huawei that secured third place; the brand is consistently keeping iPhones at bay in China, due to uniquely designed phones like the tri-folding Mate XT , seeing a 24% growth YoY, despite only taking 8% of the share in the market.

Xiaomi also grew in the premium smartphone market in China. The company is pushing its premium strategy not just with its smartphones but with all its products, including electric vehicles (EVs), and smart home devices (IoT), which is keeping the company's spot in the top five.

Additionally the firm adds that foldables still remain a "niche," as few people are reaching for it due to its unique form factor. That said, Counterpoint notes that 80% of high-end smartphone sales were for devices with GenAI.