Smartphone shipments in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) rose five per cent year-on-year in Q4 2025, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Market Monitor. This was the region’s third consecutive quarter of expansion.

The upward trajectory was underpinned by technological evolution, premiumisation and intelligence.

Counterpoint also noted that Rapid 5G smartphone adoption is accelerating the MEA’s premiumisation trend, particularly in emerging markets where high-speed connectivity remains a primary catalyst. It disclosed that this has resulted in the region’s 5G shipments surging 22 per cent YoY in Q4 2025.

It further informed that while established markets lead the charge, emerging markets are seeing a significant acceleration in 5G infrastructure and coverage, specifically in countries, including Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Sierra Leone.

Though AI is also becoming widely available across the region, Counterpoint said this has a limited impact in driving sales.

According to it, the regional landscape remains nuanced, noting that while a temporary easing of political tensions mid-year provided a tailwind, a resurgence of friction in late 2025 moderated the growth rate. However, the market’s underlying health remained intact due to core indicators remaining steady QoQ, supported by stable oil prices, consistent purchasing power, and a high appetite for premium technology.

Further, the report disclosed that the market’s growth remained concentrated in the entry and premium segments. The $100-$249 price band recorded 28 per cent YoY growth, while the over-$700 price band recorded 46 per cent YoY growth. The entry segment’s growth was pushed by the feature phone migration, especially across Africa. However, the premiumization trend was the main driver for the premium segment growth, especially with the wide availability of several financing options and trade-in programmes.

“However, Q4 2025 is expected to be among the last growth quarters for the entry segment (sub-$150) for the next several quarters. This is largely due to the ongoing global memory shortage (DRAM), which is impacting the budget segment the most, and mainly the MEA, the region being the world’s largest market for that price segment. This deceleration is also expected to slow down 5G adoption in the MEA, whereas feature shrinkflation is likely to become the main strategy for OEMs to offset the high component costs,” it stated.

The report revealed that Samsung reclaimed the top position in the MEA with a record 53 per cent YoY growth, outpacing Transsion for the second consecutive quarter. This performance was driven by a strategic front-loading to hedge against rising component costs and prepare for the upcoming Ramadan sales season.

Chinese OEMs like Transsion and Xiaomi were among the first brands to be constrained by the ongoing memory shortage. The shortage originating in mid-2025 affected the Q4 2025 production cycle, resulting in shipment declines of 14 per cent and four per cent for Xiaomi and Transsion, respectively.