Apple’s ‘vanilla’ iPhone 16 comfortably ruled the world ahead of the iPhone 17’s launch

Following a rather slow start at the global box-office back in the fall of 2024, the 6.1-inch non-Pro iPhone 16 became the world’s best-selling handset in Q1 2025, then managing to not only maintain its dominant position during the year’s second quarter, but also extend its lead over Apple’s higher-end and costlier mobile devices released last year.

Apple gets all the medals again, but not the fourth spot as well

The S25 Ultra, mind you, is down from the number seven to the number eight place, but two consecutive top ten results are certainly not bad for a super-premium Android model many prospective buyers may have found to be too expensive shortly after its early 2025 debut.

But the quarter’s biggest winner remains the iPhone 16, which was only ranked 22 in Q3 2024 (with just a few days of sales, of course), then jumping to third place in Q4 (behind the 16 Pro Max and 16 Pro) before overtaking its siblings during the first three months of 2025 and absolutely crushing them between April and June.

Will the iPhone 16 score a third quarterly victory in a row?

Finally, let’s give a shout-out to Xiaomi as well, which has basically made a habit of breaking the smartphone market’s Apple/Samsung duopoly with a single ultra-affordable model. This time, it’s the Redmi 14C 4G that ranks right behind the Galaxy S25 Ultra and ahead of the iPhone 15, dropping a spot from Q1 and looking set to exit the top ten in Q3 due to its slowly advancing age.

“Iconic Phones” is coming this Fall!

Rediscover some of the most unique and memorable phones of the last two decades! “Iconic Phones” is a beautifully illustrated book that we’ve been working on for over a year – and it’s coming out in just a couple short month!