Apple's iOS continues to hold the largest share of the smartphone operating systems market in the United States, claiming more than **** of the market in 2024. Apple's share of the U.S. market has remained stable since 2018, when it accounted for around ** percent. This is reflected in all markets, with Apple's global share remaining stable year-on-year. Apple growing at home Under CEO Tim Cook, Apple has continued to follow a stunning growth trajectory. Apple became the first U.S. company with a market capitalization exceeding two trillion dollars, just two years on from becoming the first trillion-dollar company. The iPhone, responsible for much of the company’s growth, has cemented its status as the smartphone of choice for many Americans during recent quarters. Google's Android operating system is a close competitor in the U.S. OS market, accounting for around ** percent of the market as of **********. However, Apple commands a far wider lead in the U.S. smartphone manufacturer market, with the Android user base split between various vendors such as Samsung and Motorola. Apple’s popularity across markets Apple has seen success with the iPhone in developed markets across the globe. iPhones accounted for **** of the **** most-sold handsets in the United Kingdom as of ************, and four of the leading five in Germany. Yet, the high price of Apple devices puts Apple at a disadvantage outside of wealthier markets. In Africa, iOS accounted for around ** percent of the mobile OS market in *************, while Android dominated with an ** percent share.

Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in the first quarter of 2025 with a market share of about ***** percent. Android's closest rival, Apple's iOS, had a market share of approximately ***** percent during the same period. The leading mobile operating systems Both unveiled in 2007, Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS have evolved through incremental updates introducing new features and capabilities. The latest version of iOS, iOS 18, was released in September 2024, while the most recent Android iteration, Android 15, was made available in September 2023. A key difference between the two systems concerns hardware - iOS is only available on Apple devices, whereas Android ships with devices from a range of manufacturers such as Samsung, Google and OnePlus. In addition, Apple has had far greater success in bringing its users up to date. As of February 2024, ** percent of iOS users had iOS 17 installed, while in the same month only ** percent of Android users ran the latest version. The rise of the smartphone From around 2010, the touchscreen smartphone revolution had a major impact on sales of basic feature phones, as the sales of smartphones increased from *** million units in 2008 to **** billion units in 2023. In 2020, smartphone sales decreased to **** billion units due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Apple, Samsung, and lately also Xiaomi, were the big winners in this shift towards smartphones, with BlackBerry and Nokia among those unable to capitalize.

Google's Android and Apple's iOS are the major competitors in the mobile operating system market in North America. In November 2024, Android accounted for about 56 percent of the mobile OS market, while iOS accounted for around 44 percent. Just 0.2 percent of North American users were running a system other than Android or iOS

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, 87.08 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 80 percent of all mobile users. This means that the number of overall smartphone users is forecast to top 200 million by 2017.

The smartphone penetration rate of mobile users is similarly high in the United Kingdom, with over 80 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 32 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 of 90 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.

As of July 2024, Apple’s iPhone 15 was the most popular smartphone model sold in the United States, accounting for over **** percent of total smartphone sales. The iPhone was the most popular smartphone in the United States at that time, occupying four spots in the top five. Apple and Samsung: two leading competitors Apple and Samsung are the leading smartphone vendors in the United States with a combined market share of almost ** percent in the second quarter of 2023. The two smartphone vendors dominate the U.S. smartphone market not only in terms of sales, but also when it comes to customer satisfaction: Samsung’s Galaxy line and the Apple iPhones are the highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index. In line with their successes in the United States, Apple and Samsung also lead the global smartphone market, albeit to a lesser degree – the two brands have a combined market share of close to ** percent. Smartphone penetration the highest in the United States Smartphone sales value in the United States more than doubled in the last decade, making the U.S. one of the major smartphone markets globally. In 2024, over *** million smartphones were forecast to be sold, with the number of U.S. smartphone users forecast expected to grow in the coming years.

The percentage of U.S. adults who own a smartphone has more than doubled since 2011. Only ** percent of all U.S. adults owned a smartphone in 2011, compared to ** percent of adults who owned a smartphone, as of May 2023. The share of U.S. adults owning a smartphone increased by ** percentage points the highlighted period.  Higher smartphone usage with males and higher-income groups     As smartphone penetration overall has increased over time in the United States, this trend can be observed in the split by gender as well. The penetration rate is not equally high though for both male and female users, as the usage amongst males is around five percent higher than amongst females in the United States. The smartphone penetration rate in the United States correlates appears closely related to with household income in the United States. In households with an annual income of more than ** thousand U.S. dollars the smartphone penetration rate is ** percent or higher, while on the other hand smartphone ownership in households with an annual income below this threshold is below ** percent. Apple leader in U.S. smartphone market     Apple is the leading vendor in the United States smartphone market with almost ** percent of U.S. mobile phone subscribers using an Apple device. Although Apple is the leading vendor in the United States, the Apple iOS operating system has a lower market share than its main competitor Google Android. As the Android operating system is used by the vast majority of smartphone vendors other than Apple, it combines the share of popular brands such as Samsung, LG, and Lenovo/Motorola.

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 January 2025, Android 14 held the top spot with a market share of just around ** percent, followed by Android 13 at nearly ** percent, and Android 12 with about ** percent. The newly released Android 15 accounted for just above ***** percent. Android dominates the global market Released in 2007, Android’s adaptability and versatility quickly attracted the support of major smartphone manufacturers like Sony, Samsung, and HTC, who designed phones specifically for the Android system. This strategic alliance and competitive pricing propelled Android to become the most used smartphone operating system since 2011. By 2023, it dominated over ** percent of the entire mobile OS market worldwide, outpacing its biggest competitor, Apple. In addition to its global dominance, Android led the European mobile OS market in 2023 with a share of nearly ** percent. Android Apps and the Google Play Store The world’s largest app store, the Google Play Store, bolsters the popularity of Android devices, which boasted nearly *** million apps ready for download as of *********. During this time, the most downloaded Android apps were Meta’s Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. Meanwhile, the streaming services apps Disney+ and HBO Max were the top revenue-generating Android apps, raking in over ** million and ** million U.S. dollars, respectively, in *********.

According to a December 2021 survey of mobile users in the United States, it was found that 58 percent of smartphone users aged 18 and 34 years, were using iPhone as their main device. U.S. users between 35 and 54 years, on the other hand, preferred using an Android phone, as 53 percent of respondents of this age group stated using a smartphone operated by Android such as a Samsung or a Google smartphone.

The number of Android smartphone users in the United States reached 129.1 million in 2020, and this figure is forecast to reach more than 130 million in 2021.

The rise of the Android robot

One reason for the growth of Android – developed by Google – is its open-source platform that allows mobile phone manufacturers to use and adapt the operating system for their own devices. Samsung, who run their own customized version of the Android operating system, is the leading manufacturer for Android smartphones in the United States..

Is Android’s success affecting iOS?

The increase in Android smartphone users in the United States is a part of growth in the overall market, and does not come at the expense of nearest rival, the Apple iPhone. The number of iPhone users in the United States is also increasing year-on-year. Google Android and Apple iOS are together conquering all other competitors in the United States’ mobile operating systems market holding a joint share of 99 percent.

In 2023, the used smartphone market share (including both officially refurbished and used smartphones) in North America reached 26 percent. The used smartphone market is expected to decrease in North America and by 2026, it will amount to les than 25 percent of the global used smartphone market. The global refurbished smartphone market In recent years, the refurbished smartphone market has been growing at a global level and reached a size of roughly 50 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. In the same year, over 251 million used or refurbished smartphones were shipped globally, with Latin America and India being the market leaders in terms of growth. The U.S. refurbished smartphone market Despite the U.S. playing an active role in the global refurbished smartphone market, Americans appear to prefer to buy new phones instead of reconditioned ones, mainly because they are concerned with the quality and reliability of their smartphones. However, those who do buy such devices prefer Apple iPhones rather than Android smartphones, making the iPhone XR and the iPhone 11 the most popular reconditioned smartphones.

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.

This statistic shows the distribution of mobile operating systems installed on consumers' smartphones (by age group) in the United States in 2024. As of **********, ** percent of 18 to 29 year old respondents said that their smartphone ran on iOS (Apple). The survey was conducted among ***** respondents. Access millions of exclusive survey results with Statista Consumer Insights.

In 2023, the two smartphone operating systems with the largest market share in Australia were Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. As of January 2024, iOS held a 60 percent share of the mobile operating system market in Australia. Smart phone hardware and users It’s hardly surprising then, that Apple also had a share of over half of the device market in April 2019. By comparison Samsung, the leading Android device manufacturer, had a share of just over 20 percent. By comparison, other companies all had market shares of around one percent. In 2018, 90 percent of Australians aged 12 and over owned a smartphone, with 96 percent aged between 25 and 54 owning a device. Market penetration of smartphones in Australia Most mobile phone users in Australia use smartphones; the penetration of smartphone devices in Australia in 2016 was around 66 percent of the population, and this was estimated to increase to around 75 percent by 2022. Additionally, estimates suggest that in 2019, 85 percent of Australian mobile phone users would use smartphones.

Since overtaking iOS in 2013 to become Europe’s most popular mobile operating system, Android has managed to increase its share of the market in each of the following years. As of 2023, Android was the operating system for about ** percent of European mobile phones. OS market share reflects diversity of android devices The Android operating system has a distinct advantage in terms of gaining market share, purely based on the number of manufacturers creating devices that run on Android. iOS, on the other hand, is only used by Apple devices. Looking at the market share held by individual devices gives a clearer impression of the state of play between the major manufacturers. In the second quarter of 2018, the combined European market share of Apple devices stood at ** percent, while the Android's market share was ** percent. Market shares in the United Kingdom   The market share iOS holds in the United Kingdom is higher than at the European level, sitting at ***** percent. Apple devices were the two most popular devices sold in the United Kingdom during April 2021, with the iPhone 12 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max making up a combined ** percent of smartphones sold during that month.

In October 2024, Android concentrated over ** percent of the mobile operating system market in Brazil. Apple's iOS held a share of nearly ** percent and was the only other system with a share larger than *** percent at that point in time. In 2019, Brazil was among the largest economies worldwide with an iOS adoption rate below ** percent, alongside India and Spain. A land of Androids In a country where more than three out of five consumers say they could not live without their smartphones, the mobile industry finds both a source of solid demand and a still expanding market. The preference for Android also helps to explain why the increasing penetration rate of cellphones manufactured in China. Beijing-based Xiaomi, for instance, accounted for less than two percent of the smartphone market in Brazil in February 2019. Exactly two years later, its share in that South American nation surpassed **** percent. A costly Apple Pricing is one of the reasons behind iOS’s limited popularity in Brazil. The average price of a newly released iPhone model in that country nearly doubled between 2016 and 2019, with iPhone XS’s surpassing ***** U.S. dollars in 2019. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2020, devices priced below ***** Brazilian reals accounted for almost two-thirds of the smartphone sales in Brazil. At March 31, 2020 exchange rates, that was equivalent to about *** dollars.

Smartphones running the Android operating system hold an ** percent share of the global market in 2019 and this is expected to increase over the forthcoming years. The mobile operating system developed by Apple (iOS) has a ** percent share of the market.

How Android became the market leader Android’s global success can in many ways be attributed to its open-source software that can be installed on all smartphone devices for free. Developed by Google, the open code provides manufacturers the freedom to choose which apps are pre-installed on their devices, and they can customize layouts to create unique experiences for users. The first commercial version of the Android software was released in 2008 and its rise to market leader was almost instant. The platform held a **** percent share of the global operating systems’ market in 2009, but this figure increased by around ** percent each year for the next three years.

The global smartphone market Annual sales of smartphones have increased to around **** billion units worldwide. They are now available to everyone and not just those with wealth. The cost of buying a smartphone has continued to fall each year, with the global average price now being around *** U.S. dollars. Fierce competition within the smartphone market could be one reason why prices are falling. Samsung (South Korea) and Apple (U.S.) have historically held large shares of global smartphone production, but Chinese brands Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo are now offering alternative devices that are proving popular worldwide.

Pie 9.0 was the most popular version of Android operating system as of April 2020, with a market share of 31.3 percent. Despite being released in the fall of 2015, Marshmallow 6.0 was still the second most widely used version of Android’s operating system on smartphone devices as of then. Developers Google previously named its Android versions after items of confectionery, but in a break from tradition the latest release in September 2019 is simply called Android 10, which had a share of 8.3 percent seven months after its release.

Google took the Android distribution chart off of the web in 2020. For more updated Android version data please this other statistic based on StatCounter data.

Why are older Android versions still being used?

It is considered good practice to install the latest version of software on to your smartphone for security reasons, but Android updates vary by device, manufacturer, and mobile carrier. It is also true that older devices cannot always run newer Android versions. Around 60 percent of Android devices are running a mobile operating system that is over two years old. In comparison, 81 percent of iPhone devices are running on the latest version of iOS.

Unlocking the code to Android’s success

Android is the mobile operating systems’ market leader worldwide. Since its initial unveiling in 2007, the platform has pursued a commitment to openness – its source code is freely available which allows smartphone manufacturers to install the software without having to pay a license. This reduction in costs allows vendors to make their devices cheaper than the competition. The average selling price of an Android smartphone worldwide was around 200 U.S. dollars in 2018 – more than 400 U.S. dollars cheaper than an iPhone.

As of April 2025, Android held a share of over **** percent of the mobile operating system market in Indonesia. Over the past decade, Google has kept its leading market position. Mobile phone market in IndonesiaIndonesia booked as one of the fastest growth of the global top-ten smartphone markets worldwide. While ranked as the fourth-largest market in the world, Indonesia offers potential for growth because of a young population and increasing mobile internet penetration. Additionally, stabilization of the Indonesian rupiah against the U.S. dollar strengthened overseas vendors' investment confidence in the country. Major mobile phone brandsSmartphone giants Oppo, Samsung, and Xiaomi dominate the current market. Together, Oppo and Samsung account for the largest market share, making up over ******* of the total market. While these brands continuously offer a diverse range of smartphone models with advanced technologies, the adoption of 5G devices lags behind 4G due to limited 5G connectivity in the country. This may lead to cautious approach on 5G investments, but it is expected that 5G phone adoption will slowly increase along with the infrastructure development.

As of June 2024, iOS had around **** percent of the market share of mobile operating systems in the United Kingdom (UK), while Android led with roughly ** percent of the market.The penetration rate of smartphones and the number of smartphone users has been growing for quite some time, and Apple and Android have been dominating the smartphone market since the beginning. However, the smartphone penetration growth rate has been in decline the past few years.It seems most consumer purchase a new smartphone because their old device is out of date. In this case, it would depend on how often the smartphone manufacturers bring out with a new model to figure out how often consumer may purchase a new smartphone.