New U.S. patent data is putting Apple’s innovation narrative under a brighter spotlight. According to IFI’s newly released 2025 U.S. Trends & Insights report, Apple was granted fewer U.S. patents in 2025 than several major rivals, causing the iPhone maker to slip two places in IFI’s annual ranking of the top 50 recipients of U.S. patent grants.
The overall patent environment softened in 2025, but Apple’s decline still stands out. The U.S. granted 323,272 patents during the year and received 393,344 patent applications. Compared with the prior year, total patent grants dipped by about 1%, while patent applications fell by roughly 9%, suggesting a slightly cooler pace for new filings and approvals across the board.
Even with that broader slowdown, multiple competitors outpaced Apple in patent volume and momentum. Samsung once again dominated the list, holding onto the number one position for the fourth year in a row. The South Korean tech giant secured 7,054 U.S. patents in 2025, an 11% year-over-year increase that helped it maintain a comfortable lead at the top.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) took second place with 4,194 U.S. patents, marking a 5% increase versus 2024. Qualcomm followed in third with 3,749 patents, up 9.5% year over year, highlighting continued strength in wireless and chip-related innovations.
Huawei landed in fourth with 3,052 patents, essentially flat compared with 3,046 in 2024. Samsung Display claimed fifth place after earning 2,859 U.S. patents, up 10.1% year over year, reinforcing just how much innovation continues to come from display technology and related materials.
Apple finished sixth with 2,722 patents in 2025, down from 3,082 in 2024. That’s an 11.7% year-over-year decline, a drop large enough to raise eyebrows even in a year when total U.S. patent grants slipped slightly.
It’s also notable that some well-known tech players didn’t show up in the top 10 this time, underscoring how competitive and shifting the patent leaderboard can be. Still, Apple’s decrease is being viewed by observers as more concerning when combined with reports of high-profile departures in 2025 and the company leaning on Google Gemini-based technology as part of an upcoming Siri revamp.
Taken together, the patent numbers don’t prove a lack of innovation on their own, but they do offer a clear, measurable signal: in 2025, Apple’s pace of U.S. patent grants fell while several key competitors moved in the opposite direction. For anyone tracking iPhone innovation, Apple R&D momentum, and the future of Siri and on-device AI, this is a trend worth watching in the months ahead.
