Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR Google has become the fourth-largest smartphone shipper in the US, according to Q2 data.
Shipment figures are being skewed by manufacturers racing to stockpile amidst volatile US tariff policies.
India now supplies 44% of US-bound phones as brands shift production away from China due to higher trade risks.
Google has edged into the top four US smartphone vendors, which might normally suggest a surge in consumer interest. But these aren’t normal times, and the latest figures have more to do with trade tensions than market momentum.
According to new Q2 2025 data from Canalys, Pixel shipments rose 13% compared to last year, nudging Google past TCL and other manufacturers into fourth place behind Motorola, Samsung, and Apple. Both Google and TCL are still shown at 3% market share due to rounding, but Google shipped more units this year, while TCL’s total shipments shrank by nearly a quarter.
It’s a win of sorts for Google, but one that comes in the middle of an industry-wide scramble to ship devices ahead of mounting tariff risks.
India accounted for 44% of all US smartphone imports in Q2.
As we saw in the Q1 figures, brands have spent months racing to stockpile inventory before expected US import duties kick in. Apple led the charge with massive Q1 shipments, which explains why its shipments fell 11% in Q2 compared to last year. Samsung’s focus on stockpiling in Q2 boosted its US total by 38% year-over-year in the latest report, mainly made up of the Galaxy A-series phones. That helped it grow its market share, increasing from 23% to 31%.
Still, these drops and gains don’t necessarily reflect consumer demand — just different strategies for getting ahead of policy changes that seem to shift by the month.
... continue reading