February 24, 2026
According to two recent reports from Omdia released earlier this month, the smartphone markets in Latin America and the Middle East (excluding Turkey) both saw solid growth in 2025.
For Latin America, total smartphone shipments hit a record 140.5 million units for the full year, up 3% from the previous year. The fourth quarter was especially strong, with 37 million units shipped-that's a new all-time high for any single quarter in the region, up 12% (or 13% in some rounded figures) year-over-year.
Samsung stayed comfortably in the lead overall, though Honor stood out with a massive 48% jump in shipments last year, climbing to fourth place among vendors. When broken down by country, most key markets did well, but Mexico was the outlier with a decline.
Over in the Middle East (excluding Turkey), shipments reached 54.8 million units for 2025, marking a 13% increase year-over-year. That's the third year in a row the region has grown by double digits. Q4 was particularly hot, with 14.9 million units shipped-up 20% from the same quarter in 2024-and it was the third straight quarter of double-digit gains.
Again, Samsung led the pack with strong performance (up 41% in some mentions for the year or key periods), but Honor really stole the show with a whopping 94% year-over-year growth, making it one of the standout brands in the region.
Both markets benefited from things like upgrade demand, better financing options, flagship launches, and seasonal shopping boosts (especially in the Gulf for the Middle East). Overall, it looks like emerging regions are still driving a lot of the smartphone industry's momentum, even as other areas face more headwinds.
