Brett Jordan / Wikimedia Commons
(Brett Jordan / Wikimedia Commons)
Quick Read
-
Apple Did Better Than Expected
-
Rivalry With Samsung Continues
-
The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks. Get them here FREE.
TrendForce, which tracks global smartphone shipments and production, reports that Samsung’s production matched Apple’s (NASDAQ: AAPL) last year. Total global smartphones reached 1.25 billion across the industry.
Apple and Samsung tied with production numbers of 239.8 million. For the year, Apple’s number rose 9% and Samsung’s by 11%. Apple’s newest product was the primary reason it did so well. “In 2025, the iPhone 17 series benefited from well-positioned retail pricing to deliver strong market performance.” Apple made a phenomenal run at the end of the year. In the fourth quarter, production rose 54% to 87 million units.
READ: The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks
Chinese manufacturers have done well in recent years because it is the world’s largest smartphone market, with about 1 billion wireless subscribers. However, the run mostly ended last year. Market leader Xiaomi saw a 7% drop to 169.8 million. Vivo’s sales dropped 17% to 102 million. Honor was the exception with an increase of 16% to 70.5 million
Apple’s success came as a surprise to some people. It did not launch a much-anticipated AI version of its iOS software. It pushed that into 2026. Soon, its upgraded Siri AI product will be released, powered by Google’s Gemini. CNBC reported that “Apple has picked Google’s Gemini to run AI-powered Siri coming this year.”
Apple’s iPhone 17 sales drove an extremely strong quarter. In its most recent report, iPhone revene reached $85.3 billion, up from $69.1 billion in the same period a year ago. Total revenue was $143.6 billion, so iPhone sales were 59% of total revenue.
If Apple did so well without an AI product, imagine how well it will do with one?
The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks
Wall Street is pouring billions into AI, but most investors are buying the wrong stocks. The analyst who first identified NVIDIA as a buy back in 2010 — before its 28,000% run — has just pinpointed 10 new AI companies he believes could deliver outsized returns from here. One dominates a $100 billion equipment market. Another is solving the single biggest bottleneck holding back AI data centers. A third is a pure-play on an optical networking market set to quadruple. Most investors haven’t heard of half these names. Get the free list of all 10 stocks here.
