In a datapoint that speaks volumes, at least superficially so, as to the lack of innovation at Apple, the iPhone manufacturer received fewer patents in 2025 than some of its biggest competitors. As a result, Apple dropped two places on IFI's annual ranking of the top 50 recipients of U.S. patent grants.
Samsung, TSMC, Qualcomm, and Huawei received more patents in 2025 than Apple, with Samsung managing to retain the top position in the ranking for the fourth consecutive year
IFI's 2025 U.S. Trends & Insights report has now been published, disclosing:
- The US granted 323,272 patents in 2025, and received 393,344 patent applications during the year.
- Samsung received 7,054 US patents during the year, corresponding to a year-over-year growth of 11 percent, which allowed the South Korean behemoth to clinch the top spot in IFI's patent-based ranking for the fourth consecutive year.
- TSMC ranked second with 4,194 US patents, which is up 5 percent year-over-year.
- Qualcomm ranked third with 3,749 patents, which is up 9.5 percent year-over-year.
- Huawei ranked fourth with 3,052 patents in 2025 vs. 3,046 patents in 2024.
- Samsung Display ranked fifth with 2,859 US patents, which is up 10.1 percent year-over-year.
- Finally, we have Apple in sixth place with 2,722 patents in 2025 vs. 3,082 patents in 2024, which corresponds to a year-over-year decline of 11.7 percent.
To be fair, total US patent grants fell by around 1 percent in 2025, while total patent applications declined by 9 percent. Moreover, tech heavyweights like Google and NVIDIA failed to make an appearance in this year's top 10 ranking.
Even so, Apple's ~12 percent decline in patent grants is a worrying development, especially when paired with a litany of high-profile departures in 2025 and the Cupertino giant's employment of a Google Gemini-based crutch for its upcoming revamped Siri.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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