Satellite smartphones: Apple clearly in the lead Apfelpatient

Almost three out of four satellite smartphones sold in 2025 were iPhones – but according to Counterpoint Research, the mass market is still to come.

When it comes to satellite connectivity on smartphones, Apple is the undisputed market leader. A recent analysis by Counterpoint Research shows just how far ahead Cupertino is of the competition in this segment – and why, despite this dominance, the technology is still far from reaching the mass market. The most intriguing question: What needs to happen for satellite connectivity to become standard on every smartphone?

Apple with over 71 percent market share

The figures from the Counterpoint report are clear. In 2025, iPhones accounted for 71.6 percent of all satellite smartphones shipped worldwide. Samsung came in second with 15.9 percent, followed by Huawei with 6.1 percent. Google reached 2.2 percent, and Honor 1.9 percent.

This gives Apple a lead that is virtually unparalleled in the smartphone world. The dynamism is particularly remarkable. Apple introduced satellite functionality with the iPhone 14 in 2022 – initially as a purely emergency call feature. Within three years, this has developed into a substantial market, practically dominated by iPhone models.

The reason lies in a consistent strategy. While other manufacturers offered the feature only experimentally for a long time, Apple rolled out satellite connectivity early in all current iPhone models. Today, the feature is already a standard feature of new iPhones in many countries.

Two different technical approaches

The market for satellite smartphones is currently split into two camps. Apple, Huawei, and Google rely on proprietary systems. This means that the satellite connection is tightly integrated with the respective device and its associated service. The advantage: The solution can be deeply integrated and is already reliably available today.

Most other Android manufacturers, such as Samsung, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo, are taking a different approach. They are aligning themselves with the 3GPP standard for non-terrestrial networks, or NTN for short. This approach aims to make satellites extensions of conventional mobile networks – with the goal of achieving much greater range and scalability.

Both approaches have their merits. Apple's solution works today, and it works well. The NTN standard, on the other hand, promises a broader mass market in the coming years. Which path will ultimately prevail is one of the most exciting questions facing the smartphone industry.

What is currently slowing down the mass market

Despite Apple's dominance, Counterpoint sees two remaining hurdles to widespread market penetration. The first concerns use cases. Currently, satellite technology is limited to emergency calls, location sharing, and simple text messaging. While useful, this isn't enough to convince mid-range buyers.

The second hurdle lies in the price range. Currently, satellite connectivity is almost exclusively reserved for premium devices. A move to the mid-range, i.e., the price segments where smartphones are sold in large numbers, is considered the key to the mass market.

Counterpoint anticipates that premium adoption will continue to increase with 3GPP Release 18. The market research firm expects widespread adoption in the mid-range market only with Release 19. That could take another one to two years.

Apple and the Globalstar acquisition

A significant development has recently shifted the market landscape. Amazon has acquired Globalstar – the very satellite partner with whom Apple has worked closely for years. What initially sounded like a supply chain issue has strategic implications.

Apple's satellite service currently runs on the Globalstar network. With the Amazon acquisition, Apple finds itself in an unfamiliar position: a direct competitor in the cloud and hardware business now controls part of the infrastructure on which Apple's emergency call function is based. The long-term impact of this remains to be seen. What is certain, however, is that Apple will likely be closely monitoring what Amazon does with these new capabilities.

Notably, Counterpoint explicitly cites the Apple-Globalstar partnership in its report as one of the reasons why North America currently leads the satellite smartphone market. Partnerships such as T-Mobile with SpaceX and AT&T with AST Mobile also contribute to this regional leadership.

Where the market is headed

Counterpoint predicts that by 2030, approximately 46 percent of all smartphones shipped worldwide will have satellite connectivity. Apple, Google, and Samsung are expected to lead in overall market penetration. More Android manufacturers and mobile network operators from emerging markets could then play a key role in global adoption.

There's also movement at the chipset level. Qualcomm is bringing satellite connectivity to more and more Android devices with its Snapdragon X80 and X85 modems. MediaTek is working on its own solution with the MT6825 5G SoC. More manufacturers mean more competition – and therefore potentially faster scaling.

For Apple, this means that its current lead won't last forever. The competition is catching up, and as soon as 3GPP-based solutions arrive in the mid-range market, the dynamics could change rapidly. The question is whether Apple will continue to maintain its proprietary solution as a premium feature or at least partially integrate the NTN standard.

What iPhone users get out of this

For current iPhone buyers, this market dominance is primarily an indication that Apple is taking the technology seriously and investing for the long term. Satellite capabilities will very likely be expanded in future iPhone generations. It will be particularly interesting to see whether Apple will eventually enable traditional phone calls or data connections via satellite – features that are not yet possible but are considered the next logical step in the industry.

The Globalstar network configuration that Apple currently uses is also set to be significantly expanded. This could mean that the features will become more stable, faster, and more diverse in the coming years. Owners of previous-generation iPhones will therefore benefit from the infrastructure growth without necessarily having to buy a new device.

Apple's lead in the satellite business

The Counterpoint figures paint a clear picture: Apple has a lead in the satellite smartphone market that the competition won't be catching up to anytime soon. Three-quarters of all devices sold with this feature come from a single manufacturer – that's exceptional. But the market is only just beginning. When almost half of all smartphones are expected to be satellite-enabled by 2030, the competitive landscape will fundamentally change. How Apple reacts to this is likely to become one of the most exciting strategic questions of the coming years. (Image: Shutterstock / Artsiom P)