U.S. smartphone shipments edge up in Q2 as tariff fears spur inventory push; Samsung surges, Apple slips

U.S. smartphone shipments rose by 1% in Q2 as vendors frontloaded inventory amid tariff concerns, with Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) seeing strong growth and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) facing a rare double-digit decline, according to new research from Canalys, now part of Omdia.

Samsung shipped 8.3 million units in Q2, marking a 38% year-over-year increase and boosting its market share from 23% to 31%.

In contrast, Apple’s shipments dropped 11% to 13.3 million units, down from 14.9 million a year earlier. Despite the decline, Apple retained the top position with a 49% share of the U.S. market, ahead of Samsung’s 31%.

Vendors continue to frontload devices and maintain high inventory levels to best cope with the risk of tariffs coming into play later in the year, said Runar Bjorhovde, Senior Analyst at Canalys.

“Yet, the market only grew 1% despite vendors frontloading inventory, indicating tepid demand in an increasingly pressured economic environment and a widening gap between sell-in and sell-through.”

“With the arrival of new requirements to local operations, uncertain tariff policies and pressured demand, it is becoming less attractive for mid-to-small-sized vendors to operate in the US, exemplified by HMD’s announcement to scale back its US operations,” added Bjorhovde.

Motorola (MSI) meanwhile continued its expansion in the US, growing 2% to 3.2 million units. Google and TCL rounded off the top five, with Google (GOOG) growing 13% to 0.8 million while TCL (OTCPK:TCLHF) declined 23%, shipping 0.7 million units.