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.

In 2021, the number of mobile devices operating worldwide stood at almost 15 billion, up from just over 14 billion in the previous year. The number of mobile devices is expected to reach 18.22 billion by 2025, an increase of 4.2 billion devices compared to 2020 levels.

Moving forward with 5G

As the number of devices grows, so does our dependence on them to fulfill daily functions and activities. The use cases for mobile devices increasingly demand faster connection speeds and lower latency. The 5G network will be critical to fulfilling those demands, operating at significantly faster rates than 4G. In North America, for example, it is expected that there will be 218 million 5G connections, up from just ten million in 2020. This means around 48 percent of all mobile connections in North America. Globally, this figure should reach 20.1 percent by 2025.

6G: looking beyond 5G

While 5G has entered commercialization and is already creating new opportunities, researchers and engineers are already experimenting with 6G. Not only will the number of mobile devices continue to grow but cellular internet-of-things (IoT) devices are set to permeate more industrial sectors in the coming years, meaning a solution will eventually be required for network congestion and data transfer speeds.

6G ought to be capable of solving those problems before they arise, potentially enabling a network connection density ten times greater than that of 5G, and peak data rates up to fifty times faster than the rate of 5G. The Federal Communications Commission in the United States has opened spectrum for experimentation, and China have already launched what is described as a 6G satellite, so that actual potential of 6G should be revealed over the coming decade.

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.

In 2021, the number of mobile users worldwide stood at 7.1 billion, with forecasts suggesting this is likely to rise to 7.26 billion by 2022. In 2025, the number of mobile users worldwide is projected to reach 7.49 billion.

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.

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).

How many smartphone mobile network subscriptions are active worldwide? The number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions worldwide reached almost seven billion in 2023, and is forecast to exceed 7.7 billion by 2028. China, India, and the United States are the countries with the highest number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions. Smartphone unit sales levelling off The smartphone market still has high growth potential, with the smartphone penetration rate remaining lower than 70 percent in many highly populated markets, in particular China and India. Global smartphone revenue reached 481 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, but was expected to have fallen to 463 billion in 2022. Despite stagnating sales, the increasing average selling price of smartphones is expected to support the market over the coming years. Leading smartphone vendors The leading smartphone vendors today are Samsung and Apple. These technology companies account for about half of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

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 number of smartphone users in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 1.8 billion users (+42.62 percent). After the ninth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 6.1 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 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 Australia & Oceania and Asia.

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.

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.

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.

This forecast shows the number of smartphone users in Canada from 2018 to 2024. For 2020, the number of smartphone users in Canada is estimated to reach 31.38 million.

Smartphone users in Canada – additional information Smartphones are mobile phones that have more advanced computing capabilities and connectivity than regular mobile phones. Starting with the introduction of the Apple iPhone in 2007, smartphones have risen in popularity. In 2007, around 120 million smartphones were sold worldwide. By 2014, this figure had already passed 1.2 billion. Over a third of the world’s population is projected to own a smartphone by 2017.The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to reach 2.56 billion by 2018. In Canada, the smartphone market is an important segment of the telecommunication industry, given that the country is amongst the leaders in regards to the share of mobile phone subscribers who use smartphones. The smartphone penetration rate is expected to increase in the next few years, and reach about 65 percent of mobile users by 2017. Apart from the basic features of smartphones such as making phone calls and sending text messages, Canadians use their smartphones for a range of activities. They use their devices primarily to take photos and videos, check the time and weather. Canadians also check emails, search the web and visit social networks on their smartphones on a weekly basis. When they are on the go, many Canadian smartphone users look up directions or search for a new restaurant on their mobile devices.

In March 2025, the production volume of cellphones in China amounted to around ***** million units. Cell phone industry in China – additional informationAccording to the statistic shown, **** billion cell phones have been produced in China until December 2024. China has been one of the leading cell phone manufacturing countries in the world and may continue to develop steadily in the near future. In addition to its established status as a manufacturing country for mobiles, China’s domestic mobile phone market has become one of the largest cell phone markets in the world.The number of cell phone subscribers in China had reached about *** billion in march 2025, displaying a growth momentum of a few million subscribers each month, which was hit hard by coronavirus at the beginning of 2020. Meanwhile, the number of fixed telephone lines had decreased to about *** million in March 2025, marking a significant cutback over the past years. In terms of operating systems, Android and iOS had maintained their tight grip on the market with a mobile phone operating system market share of over ** percent and ** percent in China as of March 2025.

There were almost *** million eSIM smartphone connections worldwide in 2024, more than ***** times the number reported in 2022. Global eSIM adoption has been driven by the growing availability of eSIM capable smartphones, as well as the increased number of mobile operators embracing the use of the technology across their networks.

Apple held the largest slice of the global smartphone market by shipments during the fourth quarter of 2024, followed by Samsung. Xiaomi has taken a tight grip on the third position, accounting for a market share of ** percent in the fourth quarter of 2024. Samsung and Apple smartphone sales Smartphone vendors have been suffering from the events of the past couple of years, including the pandemic and the economic downturn. However, they all appear to be recovering, as shown by the recent increase in shipments. For instance, mostly based on the main line of Galaxy Series, Samsung's smartphone shipments totaled nearly ***** million units globally in 2024. Next to Samsung, Apple is a major manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, with the company shipping more than *** million iPhones worldwide in 2024. Apple’s sales tend to be very cyclical, peaking in the fourth quarter each year, much like in the fourth quarter of 2023, when they took the first spot in terms of units shipped globally with around **** units. Xiaomi in the lead While Apple and Samsung are typically the two major companies challenging for the top spot, Huawei had provided a strong challenge in recent years. Particularly, the Chinese company managed to climb the smartphone market ladder between 2011 and 2024, recording shipments of over ** million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, strong performances from rivals like Xiaomi and the effects of the U.S. trade ban have since seen Huawei fall outside the list of top five vendors by smartphone shipments.

The number of smartphone users in India was estimated to reach over one billion in 2023. It was estimated by 2040, the number of smartphone users in India will reach 1.55 billion.

Smartphone users in India – additional information

The number of smartphone users worldwide is projected to amount to nearly 7.7 billion by 2027. It is expected that, by 2022, more than two third 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 72 percent of the country’s population in 2022. By 2028, more than 83 percent of the population in China is projected to use a smartphone. For 2022, the number of smartphone users in China amounted to nearly 1.04 billion.

India, the second most populous country in the world, passed the United States in number of smartphone users in 2017. Around 223 million people in the U.S. use a smartphone by 2017, compared to 340 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 71 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.

This statistic illustrates the share of Americans owning a smartphone in the U.S.. As of **************, ** percent of 18 - 29 year old consumers do so in the U.S. This is according to exclusive results from the Consumer Insights Global survey which shows that ** percent of 30 - 49 year old customers also fall into this category.Statista Consumer Insights offer you all results of our exclusive Statista surveys, based on more than ********* interviews.

This statistic shows global smartphone sales to end users broken down by operating system from the 2009 to 2018. In the second quarter of 2018, Apple sold ***** million smartphones with their iOS.

Smartphone sales by operating system -- additional information

Smartphone sales have strongly increased over the last few years. In 2009, the number of smartphones sold worldwide added up to *** million. By 2015, this figure stood at more than *** billion, generating almost 400 billion U.S. dollars in revenue. The market shows no sign of slowing down, as over a third of the world’s population is projected to own a smartphone by 2017, and the number of smartphone users is forecast to pass the *** billion mark for the first time by 2019.

Android, introduced to the consumer market in 2007, has been the leading operating system since early 2011, after taking over the top position from Symbian OS. The number of Android smartphones sold increased from about *** million units in 2011 to around *** billion in 2015, while Symbian’s sales declined to about ** million units in 2012, and later on was discontinued. Android’s market share jumped from *** percent in early 2009 to nearly ** percent by the end of 2016. Much of this growth can be attributed to the fact that many smartphone manufacturers, such as Sony, Samsung and HTC, have all built phones designed specifically for the Android system.

Along with the fall of Symbian and the increasing popularity of Android, RIM, which was the second biggest operating system at one point, saw its sales market share drop from about ** percent in the beginning of 2009 to less than *** percent four years later. Sales of RIM smartphones declined from around ** million in 2011 to just over **** million in 2015. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS rose as the second most popular operating system in the world, accounting for around ** to ** percent of the market in the last few years. In 2015, Apple sold about *** million iPhones which run on the iOS operating system. Microsoft’s operating system is the third most popular operating system in the world, as the company sold around ** million Windows Phone smartphones in 2015.