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 graph shows the smartphone penetration rate worldwide by region from 2010 to 2014, with forecasts from 2015 to 2019. In 2014, 68.4 percent of the mobile phone users in Western Europe were smartphone users. This number is expected to rise to over 80 percent by 2019. As of 2015, South Korea had the highest smartphone penetration rate in the world, with around 88 percent of adults owning a smartphone. Behind South Korea were Australia, Israel, and then the United States.

The global smartphone penetration rate was estimated at 71 percent in 2024, up from 2023. This is based on an estimated 6.7 billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and a global population of around 7.4 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 86 and 82 percent, respectively. Whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the same rate only stands at 55 percent as of late 2023, showing a roughly 30 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.

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 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.

In 2023, the smartphone penetration rate reached 96 percent in Hungary. In comparison, in 2010, only five percent of Hungarians owned a smartphone.

As of 2023, North America has the highest smartphone adoption rate with 84 percent of total mobile connections. North America is expected to see its smartphone adoption rate increase to 89 percent by 2030, with regions like Eurasia and Asia Pacific forecast to register larger growth.

In 2020, about 87.61 percent of the population in Malaysia used a smartphone. This figure is further expected to grow in the next few years.

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 fifteenth 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 the Americas and Asia.

This statistic shows the smartphone adoption in the United Kingdom (UK) from the first quarter of 2010 to the first half of 2018. In the first half of 2018, 78 percent of the UK population used a smartphone. Larger screens, optimized browser software, 3G connections, and the ability to run applications which connect to the internet are features which facilitate accessing the internet on a mobile device and may have encouraged smartphone take-up.

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.

This statistic shows a forecast of the estimated smartphone penetration in Norway until 2025. It is projected to reach 93 percent by 2025. 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).

Almost 79 percent of people in Japan owned a smartphone in 2023. The smartphone penetration rate increased significantly compared to the mid-2010s.

Apple’s triumph in Japan

Based on shipment volume, Apple holds the largest market share within the Japanese smartphone market. The first iPhone entered the Japanese market in 2008. SoftBank played a pivotal role in Apple’s triumphant journey, marked by the acquisition of exclusive rights for three years and a well-executed strategy based on competitive pricing and aggressive marketing. Consequently, the iPhone emerged as one of the earliest widely adopted smartphones in Japan. Since then, iPhones have consistently held a distinct appeal among Japanese consumers and regularly dominate the ranking of the best-selling smartphone models in Japan.

The advent of 5G networks in Japan

One of the major developments for the Japanese mobile communications market in recent years was the introduction of fifth-generation (5G) networks in 2020. While Japan's major mobile carriers commenced offering commercial 5G services from March 2020 onward, Rakuten Mobile joined as the country's fourth major carrier and started rolling out its 5G network in September 2020. The implementation of 5G technologies ushered in substantially higher speeds, an increased capacity, and a lower latency, particularly benefiting activities such as online streaming and mobile gaming. A recent survey underscored that smartphones are the primary devices for accessing the internet in Japan, further emphasizing the pivotal role of these devices in shaping the country's digital landscape.

This statistic presents the smartphone user penetration rate (amongst mobile phone users) in China from 2013 to 2014 and also provides a forecast for the years 2015 to 2019. The forecast estimates that the smartphone penetration rate will reach about 53.3 percent by 2016.

China smartphone penetration – additional information

The number of smartphones sold worldwide has passed the one billion mark in 2014. More than one third of the world’s population is forecast to own a smartphone by 2017. China, one of the largest and fast-growing global economies, is anticipated to lead the global smartphone market, with over 30 percent of the share in 2017, followed by the U.S. with 12 percent.

In 2014, there were more than 480 million smartphone users in China. By 2019, this figure is forecast to total nearly 690 million. Smartphone users in China accounted for 43 percent of all mobile phone users in 2013. More than 60 percent of the Chinese mobile phone users are projected to use a smartphone by 2019. Smartphone users in China are fairly divided among genders. In 2014, 54 percent of the smartphone users in China were male and 46 were female. In terms of age, just over half of all smartphone users are young adults aged between 18 and 34 years old.

Samsung and Apple lead the smartphone market in China in 2015, with sales forecast to reach 65 million units and 36 million units, respectively. Google’s Android is the most popular operating system in China, with more than 70 percent of the share as of July 2015, followed by Apple’s iOS with nearly 25 percent.

The statistic shows the household penetration of smartphones in the United States from 2013 to 2016. In 2014, 61 percent of the households in the United States owned a smartphone.

In 2023, there were 123 mobile lines per 100 inhabitants in Peru, a decrease compared to recent years. Claro was the most popular provider, followed by Telefónica and Entel.

The smartphone penetration rate in the United Kingdom has increased each year, reaching an overall figure of 94 percent in 2024. Those aged between 24 and 34 and 35 and 54 years recorded the highest smartphone penetration rate. Smartphones are mobile phones that contain an operating system with features of a personal computer. In the late 2000s smartphones started to become much more wide spread. The technological advances that have been made since then are impressive to say the least. New features are available with every new smartphone model that comes out, and the majority of smartphone owners report purchasing a new smartphone because their current device is out of date.Although smartphones have brought the power of information to the general population at their fingertips, they have also brought some negative effects with them. Accidents while driving have been on the rise, although the vast majority of motorists believe it is unacceptable to even take a short look at a phone while driving.

For 2021, the number of smartphone users in Malaysia was estimated to reach about 29 million. With a growing population, the number of smartphone users in Malaysia is expected to increase by another 1.74 million until 2025.

Smartphone ownership versus income and education
Almost everybody in Malaysia owns a smartphone. However, the younger generation tend to own smartphones more than the older generation. In a survey conducted on smartphone ownership, only 30 percent of the respondents who were aged 65 years old and above had a smartphone. Income and education also seemed to have impact on digital connectivity, including smartphone ownership. A survey showed that about 95 percent of respondents who earned at least 5,000 Malaysian ringgit and had tertiary education or more owned a smartphone.

Connection to internet use On average, Malaysians spend around 7.5 hours on the internet and 2.45 hours on social media daily. Internet and social media use were tied to smartphone ownership. Mobile messaging, taking pictures, and social networking were the most popular activities among Malaysian smartphone users. According to a survey conducted in February 2019, 90 percent of respondents stated that they use their smartphone for text messaging and voice notes at least once a day.

Mobile telephones have become increasingly relevant to many aspects of modern life, a phenomenon that is evidenced by the development in the rate of households owning a mobile telephone. Currently, approximately 93 percent of households in the United Kingdom (UK) own a mobile phone. That sits in stark contrast with 2000-2001, when less than half of all households in the UK reported owning a mobile telephone.

Smartphones leading the charge   Given their role as the digital swiss army knife of modern tech, it is no surprise that smartphones are behind much of the growth in this space. Smartphone adoption reached 78 percent during the first half of 2018, up from 29 percent at the beginning of 2011. Smartphone ownership drops off steeply for users aged 55 or older, with just 55 percent of residents in that age group reporting that they own a smartphone compared with 95 percent of people aged from 16 to 24 and 25 to 34 years of age.

Apple on top     The smartphone market is mostly split between iOS and Android, with Apple emerging as the UK’s preferred smartphone manufacturer. In April 2023, the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and the iPhone 14 Pro Max claimed 41 percent of the market, taking each of the top three positions. 

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.