Google Pixel and Honor are reportedly the fastest-growing Android brands in Europe right now

Ben Schoon | May 28 2025 - 4:30 am PT

Android is the dominant smartphone platform in Europe, but most brands are off to a “shaky start” in 2025, with only two names leading the pack in growth – Google Pixel and Honor.

Samsung and Apple battle for the top spot in Europe’s smartphone market, both hovering in the mid-30% range, with plenty of other brands having respectable portions of the market, especially compared to the United States. According to the latest data, though, the smartphone market in Europe shrunk at a whole in the first quarter of 2025, with only two brands seeing positive results.

Counterpoint Research says that Honor saw 20% year-over-year growth in Europe in the last quarter, through it still only has around a 4% market share. The report credits Honor’s “ongoing strategy to bring strong devices to all segments” as the reason for its growth, as well as an “aggressive strategy” in regards to price points.

Meanwhile, Canalys says that Google Pixel saw a significantly larger 43% year-over-year jump, shipping just shy of 1 million devices in Europe in Q1, up from around 600,000 the year prior and placing Google in the top five in the region.

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It’s important to note, though, that there’s a big disparity here in that neither of these reports directly line up with one another. Canalys doesn’t mention Honor at all, and Counterpoint doesn’t mention Pixel, especially notable as Counterpoint claims that Honor is the fourth-largest OEM in Europe, while Canalys says that Google is now #5 and Motorola is #4. The two also have a disparity in Apple’s YoY growth, with one claiming 2% and the other claiming 10%. It seems likely that this boils down in part to how the data is measured, as it’s unclear if both reports are counting the same countries. Canalys explicitly mentions that it excludes Russia, while Counterpoint makes no such statement.

In any case, neither report seems out of line. Google has been making a stronger push in Europe, while Honor has been seeing success in the region as well, especially in France. Canalys mentioned “double digit” growth for Honor in Europe in 2024, while highlighting that Germany and the UK were regions that Google Pixel is popular.

The Honor 400 series just launched in Europe last week, while Google’s Pixel 9a arrived in the region in April. Both companies are expected to bring more devices to the region later this year.