The number of smartphone users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 17.4 million users (+5.61 percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 327.54 million users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of smartphone users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of smartphone users in countries like Mexico and Canada.

The global number of smartphone users in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** billion users (+***** percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach *** billion users and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the number of smartphone users of was continuously increasing over the past years.Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to *** countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the number of smartphone users in countries like the Americas and Asia.

This statistic shows the number of smartphone users in the U.S. from 2009 to 2040. For 2022, the number of smartphone users in the United States is estimated to reach 307 million.

Smartphone users - additional information

Advances in telecommunication technology have been significant in recent years. These advances have led to a level of connectivity never seen before. The number of smartphone users in the US has risen steadily over the last several years and forecasts estimate that smartphone penetration in North America will also continue to rise steadily into the future. The United States is one of the leading countries in the world with respect to adoption of smartphone technology.

In America the most popular smartphone brands are Samsung and Apple, while the most popular smartphone operating systems / platforms with respect to market share are none other than Google Android and Apple’s own operating system, iOS. Other operating systems, such as Symbian, Blackberry OS, Bada and Windows have struggled to maintain a foothold in the market as iOS and Android clearly dominate the field.

The first official smartphones came onto the market in the early 1990s. Initially a smartphone was classified by its ability to offer features like e-mail capability, internet access, QUERTY keyboards, personal digital assistant functions and perhaps a built-in camera. As of today, smartphones have progressed even more and we typically classify smartphones as having a high definition touchscreen, various apps, navigation tools and high-speed internet on the go. More recently sales of smartphones have even exceeded that of traditional feature phones as smartphone usage has continued to rise.

The global smartphone penetration in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 20.3 percentage points. After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the penetration is estimated to reach 74.98 percent and therefore a new peak in 2029. Notably, the smartphone penetration of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more key insights for the smartphone penetration in countries like North America and the Americas.

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.

The global smartphone penetration rate was estimated at ** percent in 2024, up from 2023. This is based on an estimated *** billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and a global population of around *** billion. Regional differences in smartphone penetration Throughout the world, the smartphone penetration rate in the general population varies greatly. For example, in North America and Europe, the smartphone adoption rate stands at roughly ** and ** percent, respectively. Whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the same rate only stands at ** percent as of late 2023, showing a roughly ** percent difference in adoption rates between the highest and lowest ranked regions. Global smartphone shipments The number of global smartphone shipments saw a drop in recent years. However, the number of shipments is expected to recover to previous levels in the upcoming years. Most recently, Samsung and Apple have been leading the share of smartphone shipments worldwide, with other competitors such as Xiaomi and Oppo are catching up. Most of the top contributors to the smartphone market are concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, which is also the region is the one with the most smartphone sales to end users as a whole.

This statistic shows the smartphone penetration as share of the population in the United States from 2010 to 2021. In 2018, 69.6 percent of the U.S. population used a smartphone.

Smartphone penetration in the U.S. - additional information
Almost two-thirds of Americans are predicted to own a smartphone by 2017, more than a threefold increase since 2010. A smartphone is a mobile phone that uses an identifiable open Operating System (OS) and has more advanced computing capability and connectivity than a basic phone. The OS is supported by third party applications (commonly known as apps) written by the developer community.

The operating system must be able to support a multitasking environment and user interface that can handle multiple applications at the same time. Two of the most popular operating systems on the market are made by Google (Android) and Apple (iOS) who had a combined stake of over 90 percent of the smartphone market share worldwide at the end of 2016.

The popularity of the smartphone has risen immensely since Apple introduced its first iPhone in 2007, with 43.5 percent of all Americans forecast to own an iPhone by 2016. The first iPhone was notably different from other smartphones at the time because it used a large touchscreen for direct finger input, rather than the need for a stylus, keypad, or keyboard.

The first smartphone to use the Android OS was the HTC Dream released in 2008. Although numbers of people using this OS were low at first, it has since grown to be the most used operating system, with an estimated 107.7 million Americans projected to own an Android phone by 2016.

Smartphone usage in the United Kingdom has increased across all age ranges since 2012, most noticeably among those aged 55-64 years of age. Whereas just nine percent of mobile phone users aged 55 to 64 years used a smartphone in 2012, this number rose to over 90 percent by 2023 and reached 93 percent in 2024. Smartphones are becoming more accessibleAs well as becoming more ubiquitous, smartphones are also becoming more accessible. In terms of price, the global average selling price of smartphones has fallen from 336.8 U.S. dollars in 2010, to 276.20 U.S. dollars in 2015. However, estimates available from 2019 predicted that the average selling price of smartphones worldwide will increase again and reach 317 U.S. dollars by 2021. The average selling price for smartphones in Europe was at around 373 euros in 2019. Smartphone usage in the UK    Smartphones are the Swiss army knife of digital devices, with their capabilities limited by the creativity of developers as much as it is the technology contained in the phone. In 2017, communications were the most popular ways to use a phone, however, 87 percent of users report using camera apps frequently, 85 percent report frequent use of browser apps, and 68 percent report frequent use of navigation apps.

The statistic shows the share of the population in the United States that uses a smartphone in the United States from 2018 to 2025. In 2025, ***** percent of the population in the United States is forecast to use a smartphone. Smartphone user penetration - additional information A smartphone can be defined as a mobile device that uses an identifiable operating system and has a more advanced technological capability than a basic mobile phone. The number of U.S mobile users who have a smartphone is set to more than triple between 2011 and 2017 to almost ** percent of all mobile users. This means that the number of overall smartphone users is forecast to top *********** by 2017. The smartphone penetration rate of mobile users is similarly high in the United Kingdom, with over ** percent expected to own a smart device by 2017. However the smartphone market is set to grow at a slower rate in China with just under half of mobile users forecast to own a smartphone in 2017. The percentage is even lower in India where ** percent of mobile phone users are predicted to use a smartphone by 2017. Android phones and iPhones remain the most popular choice for smartphones with the two respective Operating Systems holding ** percent of the market sales in the U.S. in 2013. This trend looks set to continue with two new competing smartphones on the market, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (Android) and the iPhone 6 (iOS), both unveiled in 2014.

The number of smartphone users in India was estimated to reach over *********** in 2023. It was estimated that by 2040, the number of smartphone users in India will reach **** billion. Smartphone users in IndiaThe number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to amount to nearly *** billion by 2027. It is expected that, by 2022, more than two thirds of the total global population will use a smartphone. Due to China’s rapid growth, the country has become a distant leader in the smartphone market, leaving the U.S., which previously held the top position, far behind. Smartphone users in China already accounted for ** percent of the country’s population in 2022. By 2028, more than ** percent of the population in China is projected to use a smartphone. For 2022, the number of smartphone users in China amounted to nearly **** billion. India, the second most populous country in the world, passed the United States in the number of smartphone users in 2017. Around *** million people in the U.S. use a smartphone by 2017, compared to *** million in India. Despite this increase in volume, the U.S. still has a higher smartphone penetration rate than India. The smartphone penetration rate in India reached close to ** percent by 2023, a penetration rate that the U.S. already reached in 2019. Samsung was the leading smartphone vendor in India in 2022, followed by Xiaomi and Vivo.

In 2022, the number of smartphone users in China amounted to almost **** billion. According to the forecast, the user number was expected to increase to around **** billion by 2026. With around *** billion people who use smartphones around the world, China accounts for over ** percent of total users. From copycats to global players Over the past decade, Chinese smartphone manufacturers evolved from cheap alternatives to established, global brands. At the beginning of the 2010s, the market was still dominated by traditional cell phone vendors like Nokia and Sony. Halfway through the decade, Chinese manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO entered the market. Aided by the popularity among domestic consumers, these brands became integral parts of the global industry. Like a Swiss army knife Along with user base growth, the significance of the smartphone in Chinese every day life increased as well. Today, Chinese citizens use the smartphone for everything. From paying for groceries using mobile payment services, ordering take out, to finding a taxi, all require smartphone. Furthermore, during the pandemic, the Chinese government introduced digital health codes to monitor the citizen’s risk status.

According to a survey of smartphone users conducted between January and December, 2023 in selected countries worldwide, an average of ** percent of smartphone users reported using their smartphone to chat and send messages, while around ***** in ** reported sending e-mails. Accessing their online banking was the third most popular activity on average for global respondents, while around ** percent of respondents reported listening to music on their mobile devices. Watching videos was also among the most popular activities on the smartphone, with ** percent of respondents reporting consuming video content using their mobile devices.

The number of smartphone users in Germany has increased steadily in recent years, and is expected to keep rising until at least 2024. By 2024, there will be an expected 75.6 million smartphone users in Germany.

Smartphones: reduced barriers to ownership

Just as they reach a higher share of the global population, smart phones also (there is an “are” missing in between those two) becoming more accessible. In terms of price, the average selling price for smartphones in Europe fell from 419 U.S. dollars in 2013, to 259 U.S. dollars in 2017. Lower prices as well as improved accessibility controls for users with special needs, have expanded the potential customer base for smartphone manufacturers.

From 2012 to 2017, the share of individuals over the age 55 who owned a smartphone rose from 14 percent to 55 percent, highlighting the improved accessibility of the devices.

Smartphone market in Germany   

Android is largely unchallenged as Germany’s preferred operating system, enjoying a 76 percent share of OS market. When it comes to individual devices though, Apple or android devices consistently top the sales charts. In January 2019, the Apple iPhone XR was the most sold smartphone in Germany. Whether or not an Apple, Samsung or Huawei device emerges in first place is highly dependent on the release cycle of new models.

China is leading the ranking by number of smartphone users, recording ****** million users. Following closely behind is India with ****** million users, while Seychelles is trailing the ranking with **** million users, resulting in a difference of ****** million users to the ranking leader, China. Smartphone users here are limited to internet users of any age using a smartphone. The shown figures have been derived from survey data that has been processed to estimate missing demographics.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to 150 countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

In 2020, the number of smartphone users in Mexico was estimated at nearly ** million. This is an increase of about five percent from the ** million users registered the previous year. An upward trend Smartphones have come to account for almost all mobile phones used in Mexico, and their prevalence keeps on growing. By the end of 2021, it is expected that close to ** percent of the country's population will be smartphone users. While several brands are vying for dominance of the Mexican market, Korean manufacturer Samsung continues to be the most used smartphone brand, holding a ** percent share. Not far behind, however, U.S.-based Motorola followed, with a ** percent market share. 5G: ready, set, not just yet 5th generation technology (5G) is the latest version of wireless broadband cellular technology used by network providers. Countries across the globe are adopting this technology to improve mobile communication through higher capacity, faster speed, and lower latency, among others. According to a survey conducted in early 2020, ** percent of Mexican mobile users interviewed said they would be willing to switch to a 5G network as soon as it became available in their region. Despite their willingness, a transition to this technology entails new expenditures on devices capable of supporting it, which remains a luxury for many . In fact, at the time, less than ** percent of Mexicans already had a 5G mobile network.

For 2020, the number of smartphone users in Thailand reached around ***** million. This number has been rapidly increasing since 2015. Such value is forecast to amount to almost ** million by 2026. This was partially a result of an increase in the Thai population and internet penetration throughout the years. The use of smartphones and the internet The use of smartphones and the internet go hand in hand. In recent years, internet penetration in Thailand had gradually and steadily increased and was predicted to rise even further in the next years. As Thais spend a lot of their time on mobile phones, a majority of Thai people use their smartphones for various online activities, ranging from entertainment to financial services. Furthermore, many e-commerce activities also occur on smartphones through the use of social media. Lazada and Shopify, which are popular e-commerce platforms, are also conveniently accessible through smartphone use in Thailand. Social media use on smartphones The smartphone ownership in Thailand is high. Thais spend a lot of their time on social media. The most popular social media platform in Thailand is Facebook, which has showed increasing number of users throughout the years. Thai smartphone users also like watching online videos, both from Facebook and YouTube. Apart from major social media platforms, Thais also browse through sites such as Pantip and Sanook, which are popular Thai lifestyle and entertainment online communities.

The smartphone penetration in Brazil was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total **** percentage points. The penetration is estimated to amount to ** percent in 2029. Notably, the smartphone penetration of was continuously increasing over the past years.The penetration rate refers to the share of the total population.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in up to *** countries and regions worldwide. All indicators are sourced from international and national statistical offices, trade associations and the trade press and they are processed to generate comparable data sets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).Find more information concerning Singapore and Turkey.

The number of smartphone users in Japan amounted to almost **** million in 2022. It was forecast to reach more than ** million by 2028. Domestic smartphone market Japan was one of the first countries to develop a mobile phone culture, being home to inventions such as the world’s first camera phone in 1999 as well as the nowadays ubiquitous emojis. The largest mobile phone operators in the country are NTT Docomo, au by KDDI, and SoftBank. Rakuten Mobile joined as the fourth proper mobile network operator (MNO) in 2020. As for mobile phone types, Japanese consumers show a clear preference for smartphones, which make up the majority of monthly domestic mobile phone shipments. The popularity of smartphones in Japan goes hand in hand with an increasing usage of streaming services as well as other forms of mobile entertainment. Popularity of smartphone gaming Home to global gaming industry giants such as Nintendo and Sony, Japan also boasts a very competitive mobile gaming market. A survey regarding the frequency of playing smartphone games showed that a majority of smartphone gamers play games on a daily basis. The most commonly played smartphone game genres are puzzle games, location-based games, and role-playing games (RPGs) of various kinds. Dating back to as early as 1999, when NTT Docomo made RPGs such as “Dragon Quest” and “Final Fantasy” available for download on its platform, this genre has been among the more popular ones.

The statistic shows the total number of mobile phone users worldwide from 2015 to 2020. In 2019 the number of mobile phone users is forecast to reach **** billion. Mobile phone users worldwide - additional information The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the **** billion mark by 2019. In 2016, an estimated **** percent of the population worldwide already owned a mobile phone. The mobile phone penetration is forecasted to continue to grow, rounding up to ** percent by 2019. China was predicted to have just over *** billion mobile connections in 2017, while India was forecast to reach over *** billion. By 2019, China is expected to reach almost *** billion mobile connections and India almost *** billion. Most of the mobile market growth can be attributed to the increasing popularity of smartphones. By 2014, around ** percent of all mobile users were smartphone users. By 2018, this number is expected to reach over ** percent. The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to grow by one billion in a time span of five years, which means the number of smartphone users in the world is expected to reach *** billion by 2019. Samsung and Apple are leading smartphone vendors, with about ** percent of the market share each.

For 2019, the number of smartphone users in Saudi Arabia is estimated to reach **** million. This number has steadily increased in the past couple of years. Smartphone users in Saudi Arabia – additional informationThe number of smartphone users in the MEA region is expected to be on the rise in the coming years. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the number is projected to grow to almost ** million by 2019. Although affordability led to a smartphone boom in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region in the past few years, its smartphone market growth has been slowing down, mirroring the global trend.Smartphone sales in Middle East and Africa had a worth of more than ** billion U.S. dollars in 2015, up less than * billion U.S. dollars from the previous year. This figure is forecast to increase by about * billion U.S. dollars in 2016. The annual growth rate of smartphone unit shipments in the region is projected to remain in the double digits through 2016 to reach more than *** million units in 2016. Smartphone penetration continues to rise across the MEA region in 2016, in parts due to its functionalities. By 2019, half of the population is forecast to be mobile internet users. The growth of the mobile payment industry also influenced the increasing number of smartphone users. The share of mobile users who have made a mobile payment in Middle East & Africa is expected to grow in the future, albeit at a slower rate than other countries. In 2015, Saudi Arabia was home to the second largest mobile online shopping user base out of the Middle East countries. Almost a quarter of the population made an online purchase via phone that year.