LATAM smartphone shipments fell 4% YoY in Q1 2025 to mark the region’s first decline since Q2 2023, according to the latest Counterpoint Research Market Monitor report. The region delivered a mixed performance with some countries like Argentina and Chile continuing to grow, while Mexico and Brazil seeing significant declines.
In March, Brazil’s inflation rate reached 5.4%, the country’s highest in two years. Increasing prices are starting to hurt local demand for devices as churn rates are also increasing among mobile carriers. Prepaid subscribers, who are highly sensitive to economic factors, have set alarms as disconnections exceeded subscriptions in Q1 2025.
Mexico barely escaped from technical recession in Q1 2025. The jobs market is slowly growing at pandemic-level rates, which, combined with lower exports amid trade uncertainty, has pushed OEMs to ship lower smartphones into the country. These difficult economic factors will likely hit low-end consumers and prepaid users first.
Argentina’s smartphone shipments grew 69% on base effect after a tough H1 2024 which followed the economy bottoming out in 2023. Argentina currently accounts for only 5% of the region’s shipment volume but steady growth could help its share rise to double-digit percentages.
- Despite just growing by single-digit percentages compared to its competitors, Samsung maintained its leadership in the overall region and in major countries like Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Entry-level smartphone shipments decreased as Samsung has only one device in the segment – the Galaxy A06. However, Samsung’s presence grew in higher price bands as it offered both 4G and 5G versions, for example, the Galaxy A series including the A14 and A15 models.
- Apple launched the new iPhone 16e which immediately captured the attention of its customers. The device jumped to the top of the Mexican sales charts in the $700-$800 price segment. It is cheaper than the 16 lineup and has fewer hardware/software downgrades.
- Xiaomi also launched the upgraded Redmi Note 14, which was the cheapest-ever launch of the Redmi Note series. It is currently one of the best value-for-money smartphones in the region.
- Motorola’s volume halved in Mexico. In Brazil it fell 10% and in the rest of CALA it declined 19% YoY on an average. The poor performance was due to a supercharged 2024 that overcame expectations and led to an inventory bulk up during Q1 2025. Motorola has delayed its device launches to Q2 2025 as it is searching for better inventory management.
Covered By: Mobility India / Counterpoint
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