The numbers are in, and it seems Google’s Pixel 9a was a hit among the holidays in a US smartphone market that Apple dominated even more than it usually does.
In the United States, the smartphone market is Apple’s to lose. That’s just a fact, and the numbers back it up. In Q4 2025 – i.e. the holiday season – Apple took a massive 69% share of the overall smartphone market, up from 65% in 2024. That’s with the US smartphone market as a whole going up a mere 1% in the same quarter.
Counterpoint reports that the fairly stagnant growth overall can be attributed to the sub-$300 segment, which saw “weaker demand” and a drop of 7% year-over-year. Motorola was the biggest name in this segment in part thanks to the late-year launches of the Moto G (2026) series.
The segment that actually grew the most, though, was the mid-range $300-600 price point, which Counterpoint says grew by 27% year-over-year. That wasn’t thanks to Samsung or Motorola, which have mostly abandoned that price segment in the US, but thanks to the iPhone 16e and the Google Pixel 9a.
The breakdown wasn’t shared, but Counterpoint says that Google gained “higher shares in this segment.”
Premium devices are generally the major driving factor of sales in Q4 due to the heavy emphasis on postpaid deals. Apple was able to benefit from these deals, as many offers were targeted toward iPhone and iOS device bundles. However, this year the biggest YoY growth came from the mid-range price band ($300-$600), which grew 27% YoY. While it is still a relatively minor segment of the overall market, this growth shows that consumers are opting for more budget-friendly devices due to current macroeconomic conditions. This has helped Apple and Google gain higher shares in this segment with their iPhone 16e and Pixel 9a devices, respectively. Samsung and Motorola, on the other hand, lost share in the segment due to the increased competition.”
The report further brings out that the ongoing memory shortage is likely to have a major impact on the sub-$300 market which, clearly, was already struggling in the US last year, and also questions “whether the growth in the $300-$600 segment continues into 2026.” It also adds that “further growth” in that market segment, “and a slowdown in the premium segment would indicate a wider trend of users ‘buying down’ as the macroeconomic situation in the US is likely to remain uncertain for some time.”
Google, meanwhile, has confirmed that Pixel 10a will launch on February 18, with sales ongoing for the Pixel 9a.
More on Google Pixel:
- Honor, Nothing, and Google Pixel were some of 2025’s fastest-growing phone brands
- Google Pixel expected to see ‘strongest growth’ in 2026, report says
- Google gives Pixel Tablet another two years of Android OS updates
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