iPhone Success Is Key to Smartphone Future

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published Aug 30, 6:40AM EDT

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Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL | AAPL Price Prediction) is likely to lead a surge in global smartphone sales in the coming year.
Foldable and AI-enabled phones are critical to the move.
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Widely regarded research firm Counterpoint believes that, after several years of poor results, global smartphone sales will rise this year and next. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is likely to lead this move and may even surpass Samsung as the top-selling smartphone in the world.

Smartphone sales worldwide have fallen for most years since 2017. In 2024, they are expected to rise 5% to 1.23 billion, and in 2025, they are expected to rise another 3%. AI-powered phones are critical to the improvement. However, “political turbulence” in the Middle East and part of Europe are considered headwinds. Growth in China, South Korea, and Japan will increase sales.

Another expected engine for growth is foldable smartphones. Their success will primarily be due to products from Chinese leaders, such as Huawei and Honor. If Apple enters this segment in 2027 as expected, it will grow even faster.

The good news about Apple is that its AI-enabled products will drive much of its future growth. Senior Analyst Harmeet Singh Walia commented, “Apple’s AI (Apple Intelligence), available in its upcoming models, will boost GenAI devices in the whole smartphone market. It could create an opportunity for Apple to rise to the top in annual shipments as soon as in 2025.” That means it will move ahead of South Korea’s Samsung.

Not everyone shares the optimism about Apple. Some experts believe that Apple’s AI iOS 18 will not be enough to offset the lack of differences between the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15. If Counterpoint is correct, Apple’s decision will be vindicated.

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About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.