In 2022, smartphone vendors sold around 1.39 billion smartphones were sold worldwide, with this number forecast to drop to 1.34 billion in 2023.

Smartphone penetration rate still on the rise

Less than half of the world’s total population owned a smart device in 2016, but the smartphone penetration rate has continued climbing, reaching 78.05 percent in 2020. By 2025, it is forecast that almost 87 percent of all mobile users in the United States will own a smartphone, an increase from the 27 percent of mobile users in 2010.

Smartphone end user sales

In the United States alone, sales of smartphones were projected to be worth around 73 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, an increase from 18 billion dollars in 2010. Global sales of smartphones are expected to increase from 2020 to 2021 in every major region, as the market starts to recover from the initial impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung shipped around 52 million smartphones, a decrease from the both the previous quarter and the same quarter of the previous year. Samsung’s sales consistently place the smartphone giant among the top three smartphone vendors in the world, alongside Xiaomi and Apple. Samsung smartphone sales – how many phones does Samsung sell? Global smartphone sales reached over 1.2 billion units during 2024. While the global smartphone market is led by Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi has gained ground following the decline of Huawei. Together, these three companies hold more than 50 percent of the global smartphone market share.

In 2021, mobile revenue generated by Minecraft was $160.69 million. That means that mobile revenue accounted for 42.1% of all annual global revenue from Minecraft. Put simply – Mobile is an essential channel for Minecraft.

In the second week of August, 2020, smartphone users in India spent about three hours and 14 minutes on smartphone average each day. In comparison, this was at about 3.22 hours before the coronavirus pandemic. The drop was partially due to the ban on certain popular mobile apps.

Estimates suggest that in 2024 U.S. adults will spend an average of nearly three hours watching traditional TV each day. This figure has generally fallen in recent years and the downward trend is forecast to continue in the years to come. The only exception to this trend is the year 2020, when consumption increased due to a growth in media consumption during the coronavirus outbreak. Screen time Although average daily time spent watching TV appears to be decreasing, this does not necessarily mean that people are spending less time in front of screens; this drop is likely due to an increasing amount of time spent with phones, tablets, and laptops. With on-demand streaming services such as Netflix gaining massive popularity, people can watch a huge range of programming whilst on the go, meaning that screen time is no longer limited to time spent at home in front of the TV. Young people around the world have been especially quick to adopt smartphone-based video streaming habits meaning that television screen time will likely fall even further in the future. Television in the U.S. As mentioned above, the way people are consuming their video entertainment content is rapidly changing in the United States. By 2027, estimates suggest that only 47.8 million U.S. households will pay for traditional TV services, down from over 100 million as of 2014. In order to compete for people’s business, cable and satellite providers must find a way to adapt in a way the meets the needs of today’s increasingly mobile consumers. Some are launching their own streaming services in a bid to tackle cord-cutting, most notably Comcast.

This statistic shows the unique daily internet audience of the weekly women magazine Vanity Fair in Italy from January to December 2019. In July 2019, Vanity Fair reached on average over 445 thousand individuals via smartphone every day. By contrast, the number of individuals reached daily dropped to 316 thousand people during December 2019.

The number of Apple iPhone unit sales dramatically increased between 2007 and 2023. Indeed, in 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced, Apple shipped around 1.4 million smartphones. By 2023, this number reached over 231 million units.

The newest models and iPhone’s lasting popularity

Apple has ventured into its 17th smartphone generation with its Phone 15 lineup, which, released in September 2023, includes the 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and Pro Max. Powered by the A16 bionic chip and running on iOS 17, these models present improved displays, cameras, and functionalities. On the one hand, such features come, however, with hefty price tags, namely, an average of 1,000 U.S. dollars. On the other hand, they contribute to making Apple among the leading smartphone vendors worldwide, along with Samsung and Xiaomi. In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung shipped over 60 million smartphones, while Apple recorded shipments of roughly 50 million units.

Success of Apple’s other products

Apart from the iPhone, which is Apple’s most profitable product, Apple is also the inventor of other heavy-weight players in the consumer electronics market. The Mac computer and the iPad, like the iPhone, are both pioneers in their respective markets and have helped popularize the use of PCs and tablets. The iPad is especially successful, having remained as the largest vendor in the tablet market ever since its debut. The hottest new Apple gadget is undoubtedly the Apple Watch, which is a line of smartwatches that has fitness tracking capabilities and can be integrated via iOS with other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch has also been staying ahead of other smart watch vendors since its initial release and secures around 50 percent of the market share as of the latest quarter.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, Apple shipped around 77 million iPhones, representing a more than 20 million unit increase compared to the previous quarter, though this figure was about 3.3 million units lower than the same quarter in the previous year. There has been a tendency of increased Apple smartphone shipments in the fourth quarters every year since 2011.  iPhones in the global smartphones picture After its release in 2007, the iPhone has gained solid ground in the global smartphone market, with market share fluctuating between 10 and 20 percent in recent years. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Apple’s iPhones sales composed over 23 percent of the total global smartphone sales. COVID-19 impact With the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), shipments of various high-tech products were expected to stagnate during the first quarter of 2020, according to revised forecasts from March 26, 2020. Fewer smartphone units were expected to be shipped over the course of 2020, compared to previous forecasts. In 2021, however, Apple shipped more units globally than ever before.

As of June 2020, 62 percent of parents to U.S. teens aged 14 to 17 years stated that their kids were spending more than four hours per day on electronic devices since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 32 percent of responding parents stated that their teens had used electronic devices daily for more than four hours before the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the pandemic triggered a rise in the use of electronic devices among American children under 13 and teenagers with screentime now double that of what it used to be across all age groups.

YouTube, Netflix and Instagram dominate

In an ongoing survey between 2015 and 2020 it was reported that the most popular video platforms among teens in the U.S. were Netflix and YouTube, and the pandemic has done little to shift that. Cable TV viewership continued to decline throughout 2020, while Hulu rose in popularity during this time. Meanwhile, despite a slight drop in viewership Netflix and YouTube retained their positions as the top two video services after the onset of the pandemic. YouTube and Instagram were also named the most popular social media channels among teens and young adults, as of the third quarter of 2020. Due to their booming popularity, it is no wonder that advertisers have been increasingly targeting these networks, with social media add spend having been on the rise each year since 2017. The biggest growth surge has come from mobile advertising, while spend on desktop advertising has remained nearly the same.

Texting and phone calls most preferred during lockdown

As most of the world entered lockdown during the peak of the Coronavirus pandemic in April 2020, teens in the U.S. were asked which technologies they had used to virtually connect with friends and family during this time. 'Texting' was the most preferred method, named by over 80 percent followed by phone calls. Meanwhile, video chat and social media came in third.

How many people use social media? Social media usage is one of the most popular online activities. In 2024, over five billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to over six billion in 2028.

Who uses social media? Social networking is one of the most popular digital activities worldwide and it is no surprise that social networking penetration across all regions is constantly increasing. As of January 2023, the global social media usage rate stood at 59 percent. This figure is anticipated to grow as lesser developed digital markets catch up with other regions when it comes to infrastructure development and the availability of cheap mobile devices. In fact, most of social media’s global growth is driven by the increasing usage of mobile devices. Mobile-first market Eastern Asia topped the global ranking of mobile social networking penetration, followed by established digital powerhouses such as the Americas and Northern Europe.

How much time do people spend on social media? Social media is an integral part of daily internet usage. On average, internet users spend 151 minutes per day on social media and messaging apps, an increase of 40 minutes since 2015. On average, internet users in Latin America had the highest average time spent per day on social media.

What are the most popular social media platforms? Market leader Facebook was the first social network to surpass one billion registered accounts and currently boasts approximately 2.9 billion monthly active users, making it the most popular social network worldwide. In June 2023, the top social media apps in the Apple App Store included mobile messaging apps WhatsApp and Telegram Messenger, as well as the ever-popular app version of Facebook.

Not all app categories can boast the same degree of user retention on day 30. While news apps were reported in the third quarter of 2024 to have a retention rate of almost 10 percent, social media apps presented less than two percent retention rate after 30 days from install. Entertainment apps presented a three percent installation rate, while a shopping apps had a retention rate of around four percent one month after installation. Before retention: user acquisition Gaining new users is fundamental for the healthy growth of a mobile application, and app developers have an array of tools that can be used to expand their audience. As of the second quarter of 2022, CPI, or cost per install, was the most used pricing model for user acquisition campaigns according to app developers worldwide. The cost of acquiring one new install in North America was of 5.28 U.S. dollars, but driving in-app purchases in the region was more pricey, with a cost of roughly 75 U.S. dollars per user. The future of in-app advertising In recent years, subscriptions and in-app purchases have become more popular app monetization practices, with users finally willing to pay for app premium functionalities and services. In 2020, video ads were reportedly the most expensive type of ads to drive conversions on both iOS and Android apps, while banner ads had a cost per action (CPA) of 36.77 U.S. dollars on iOS, and 10.28 U.S. dollars on Android.

In the period from 2016 to 2021, the total time spent on fixed line telephone calls in Australia dropped by over 50 percent to around sit at 8.7 billion voice call minutes. Mobile phone calls made up an increasing majority of total voice call minutes each year, with mobile originating phone calls reaching almost 73 billion minutes in total.

In the first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, Apple generated around 69 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from the sales of iPhones. Apple iPhone revenue The Apple iPhone is one of the biggest success stories in the smartphone industry. Since its introduction to the market in 2007, Apple has sold more than 1.5 billion units worldwide. As of the third quarter of 2024, the Apple iPhone’s market share of new smartphone sales was over 16 percent. Much of its accomplishments can be attributed to Apple’s ability to keep the product competitive throughout the years, with new releases and updates. Apple iPhone growth The iPhone has shown to be a crucial product for Apple, considering that the iPhone’s share of the company’s total revenue has consistently grown over the years. In the first quarter of 2009, the iPhone sales were responsible for about a quarter of Apple’s revenue. In the third quarter of FY 2024, this figure reached a high of roughly 50 percent, equating to less than 40 billion U.S. dollars in that quarter. In terms of units sold, Apple went from around 55.8 million units in 2010 to about 232 million in 2023, but registered a peak in the fourth quarter of 2020 with more than 90 million iPhones sold worldwide.

As of 2024, 99 percent of adults in the United States between 18 and 49 years were internet users, making it the age group with the highest level of internet penetration in the country. A further share of 97 percent of adults using the internet were between 18 and 29 years old. Mobile internet usage Mobile internet usage continues to surge in the United States, with 96.2 percent of internet users accessing the web via phones as of the third quarter of 2023. In April 2024, YouTube's mobile app led with a 74 percent audience reach, while TikTok topped weekly engagement among social apps. Mobile apps and privacy Mobile apps became an essential part of mobile users, this high usage raised new concerns about data privacy. By June 2023, three in four internet users supported data localization to protect their information. Additionally, As of September 2024, 13.5 percent of paid iOS apps stated that they collected user data, with 88 percent of this data used to enhance app functionality.

Gen Z's media consumption habits in the United States reveal a strong preference for digital and on-demand content. A 2023 survey found that nearly half of Gen Z respondents watch video streaming services daily, with 43 percent streaming music and 39 percent playing video games. Digital platforms are undeniably at the core of younger audiences’ media diet. Online media consumption leads to higher ad acceptance The prevalence of streaming services in Gen Z's daily routine is complimented by their receptiveness to advertisements on these platforms. Approximately 47 percent of Gen Z adults reported being open to ads on streaming TV – a result significantly higher than that for ads on traditional cable and broadcast TV. This trend aligns with the finding that 88 percent of Gen Z consumers engage with ad-supported video streaming services, indicating a willingness to trade ad exposure for content access. Multiplatform engagement and customization Gen Z's media consumption extends beyond passive viewing, with a focus on personalization and multiplatform engagement. The average Gen Z consumer uses over six video streaming platforms to access TV shows and movies, demonstrating a diverse content appetite across a number of streaming services. Additionally, 92 percent prefer watching content on smartphones, highlighting the popularity of on-the-go video viewing behavior. Gen Z also shows a higher propensity for using subtitles or closed captions when watching shows or movies compared to older generations, which indicates a need for customizable tools to enhance the viewing experiences.