Japan’s smartphone shipments climbed 11% YoY in Q2 2025, sustaining double-digit percentage growth for the second consecutive quarter despite the market’s maturity, according to Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service(Global Smartphone Market Shipment Tracker). During the quarter, market momentum was mostly driven by Apple, which achieved notable share gains. The performance reflects the intensification of carrier promotions in Japan, with device trade-in programs, often marketed as ‘1-yen handsets,’ becoming a mainstream mechanism to stimulate replacement demand. 

Japan Smartphone Shipments and YoY Growth; Q2 2024 vs Q2 2025

Source: Counterpoint Research Global Smartphone Market Monitor, Q2 2025

Source: Counterpoint Research Global Smartphone Market Monitor, Q2 2025

Apple, which holds the largest share in Japan’s smartphone market, registered strong sales for the iPhone 16e, continuing its solid performance momentum from Q1 2025. However, in the second half of the year, Apple will have to rely more on other models and new product launches for growth as the brand’s early momentum has already started tapering off since June.

Meanwhile, Android vendors witnessed a mixed performance, with some achieving solid gains. Samsung intensified its promotional efforts in 2025 and posted a substantial 60% YoY increase in shipments during the quarter, while Google achieved 12% growth. In contrast, Xiaomi’s shipments fell 35%, Sharp declined 28%, and Sony tumbled 50%, highlighting the diverging fortunes among OEMs.

Active sales promotions are also supporting market growth. A key driver has been the ‘1-yen device’ promotions built on device return programs, which have been gaining strong consumer traction, lowering upfront costs and making upgrades to the latest models easier. This is stimulating new contracts, device upgrades, and even second-device purchases. Additionally, carrier initiatives such as device discounts, point rebates, expanded data packages, service bundles, and MNP incentives are broadly underpinning this demand.

2025 Outlook

In the second half of 2025, smartphone shipments in Japan may slow down after the strong growth seen earlier in the year. Apple’s dominance will likely continue, but Samsung, Google, OPPO, and Xiaomi are also showing strong momentum. Competition in the market is expected to become more intense, driven by new features and cost performance. However, higher prices, longer replacement cycles, and growing demand for used devices could limit overall growth. As a temporary boost toward 2026, NTT DOCOMO’s planned shutdown of its 3G network is also expected to generate replacement demand. Even with carrier promotions and device return programs supporting replacement demand, whether this growth can be sustained remains uncertain. It will be crucial to closely monitor market trends.

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