In 2024, vivo and Huawei accounted for the highest market share of the Chinese smartphone market with a share of over 16 percent. In 2021, Huawei lost its leading position after the company was subjected U.S. trade restrictions. The rise of Huawei  Back in 2014, the competition in the smartphone market in China was fierce with both domestic brands and foreign brands like Samsung and Apple. Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo have become the largest players in the market with a total combined market share of over 50%. Additionally, Huawei’s brand recognition has spread to other parts of the world. In the first quarter of 2012, the smartphone shipments of Huawei only accounted for around three percent globally, but the market share of Huawei has diappeared. Global shipments of Huawei devices have also vanished, from slightly over 107 million units in 2015 to almost nothing in 2023. While the company has not made a comeback to to global smartphone market yet, it has been one of the most successful companies in China. Chinese smartphone market  Since 2011, the volume of smartphone shipments in China has steadily increased, reaching over 460 million units in 2016 at the highest ever shipment. However, the figure dropped slightly in 2017 and even fell below 400 million units in 2018 and 2019, parallel to the economic downturn worldwide and demonstrating the slowing down of Chinese economic growth. However, due to the largest population in the world, more smartphones were sold in China than in any other country.

As of 2023, for the first time ever, Apple ranked as the market leader in the global smartphone market with a 20.1 percent share of all shipments. The tech giant retained the top title in 2024, with a share of nearly 19 percent of the global smartphone market. Samsung ranked second, holding 18 percent of the market share. Global smartphone market shareSamsung has seen its popularity steadily increase since it held just a 4.3 percent of the smartphone vendor market at the beginning of 2010. Samsung’s share of the overall mobile phone market, has fluctuated in recent times, dropping to under 20 percent in the most recent year. Apple became smartphone market leader based on shipments in 2023. Apple’s smartphone sales are relatively cyclical and peak in the fourth quarter each year. In the fourth quarter of 2024, 23 percent of all smartphones new smartphones sold were iPhones. The iPhone generated considerable revenue for Apple with sales of the device amounting to over 200 billion U.S. dollars in their 2024 financial year.

Smartphones running the Android operating system hold an 87 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 13 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 four percent share of the global operating systems’ market in 2009, but this figure increased by around 20 percent each year for the next three years.

The global smartphone market Annual sales of smartphones have increased to around 1.56 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 215 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.

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 13 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 223.5 million units globally in 2024. Next to Samsung, Apple is a major manufacturer of smartphones worldwide, with the company shipping more than 228 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 80.5 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 42 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 smartphone penetration in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 1.3 percentage points. The penetration is estimated to amount to 97 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 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 Mexico and Canada.

The statistic shows unit shipments of unlocked smartphones in the United States from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, 14.6 million unlocked smartphones were shipped in the United States.

Unlocked smartphone sales – additional information

Unlocked smartphones can be used with any carrier as they are not tied to a certain provider with a contract. As unlocked phones provide greater flexibility, they are becoming more and more popular. All of the major brands and manufacturers such as Apple, Samsung, LG and the like sell unlocked smartphones.

From 2014 to 2015 unlocked smartphone shipments in the United States increased by around 240 percent to almost 15 million units, accounting for about 10 percent of overall smartphone shipments. During the same period, the Florida-based BLU more than doubled its unlocked smartphone shipments to more than 5 million units. In 2015, Apple also increased its shipments to 1.8 million units, with Motorola shipping more than one million units as well. That same year, BLU took the lead among all mobile manufacturers in terms of market share, capturing nearly 35 percent share in the United State, meanwhile Apple and Motorola accounted for 12 and 10 percent respectively of the unlocked smartphone market.

This graph shows global sales figures for smartphones from 2009 to 2017, broken down by the operating system installed on the phones. In 2017, 1.32 billion Android smartphones were sold around the world.

Global smartphone sales by operating system

In 2013 over 967 million units of smartphones were sold to consumers worldwide. Of the smartphones sold to end users in the final quarter of 2013, almost 78 percent ran on the Android operating system, equating to sales of almost 220 million units. Based on unit shipments of these smart devices, Android’s market share increased further in 2014 with the company holding over 80 percent of the global smartphone operating system market in the first quarter of 2014.

The second most popular smartphone operating system based on sales to consumers is Apple’s iOS. The company held a market share of 17.8 percent in the final quarter of 2013 and sold over 50 million units. In the whole of 2013, a total of over 150 million units of Apple iPhones were sold worldwide, an increase from 125 million units in the previous year. Based on sales of new smartphones worldwide, Apple’s operating system held a market share of 15.5 percent in the first quarter of 2014, a fall from 17.9 percent from the previous quarter. However, Apple smartphones remain particularly popular in the United States where the iOS operating system holds a 42 percent market share, an increase from its 27.3 percent share three years previous. Yet Android remains the dominant operating system in the U.S. as it controls over 50 percent of the smartphone OS market in the country.

Today about 20 to 22 million people in South Africa use a smartphone, which accounts for about one third of the country’s population. The overall number of mobile connections is much higher though with more than 90 million, as feature phones are still popular and widely used in the country and on the continent overall. The number of smartphone users is forecast to grow by more than five million though till 2023.

Samsung most popular brand in South Africa

Samsung is currently the leading mobile phone vendor in South Africa. More than 40 percent of devices in use are currently made by the Korean tech giant. The Chinese telecommunications equipment and consumer electronics manufacturer, Huawei, and US-based Apple also have a strong presence in the South African market with a share of more than 15 percent each.

Leading mobile operator: Vodacom

There are three mobile network operators in South Africa which account for about 90 percent of the overall market: Vodacom, MTN, and Cell C. Vodacom, of which British multinational telecommunications company Vodafone holds a majority stake, has the largest share of subscribers with around 40 percent. MTN and Cell C are responsible for around 30 and 17 percent of the market respectively.

Market Overview:

The global cell phone connector market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period, 2018-2028. The growth in this market can be attributed to the increasing demand for smartphones and the growing trend of miniaturization in electronic devices. Based on type, the FPC connector segment is expected to lead the global cell phone connector market during the forecast period. This can be attributed to its small size and high reliability. Based on application, the smartphone segment is projected to lead the global cell phone connector market from 2018-to 2028.

Product Definition:

A cell phone connector is a physical interface (usually composed of metal contacts) between a cell phone and another electronic device, such as a charger, headset, or computer. Connectors can also be used to join two sections of electrical cable or wire.

FPC Connector:

FPC connector is a type of phone jack used for the connection of external devices such as printers, modems, and speakers. The growth factor in the cell phone connector sales market is that it has been observed that the number of FPC connectors in a system will determine how many systems can be connected to one another. For instance; if there are eight phones attached to an FPC port then only six systems can be connected using this port because two connectors are unused (other than the speakerphone).

Board to Board Connector:

The global board-to-board connector market size was valued at USD 5.0 billion in 2015 and is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. The growing demand for cell phones and tablets is anticipated to drive the industry's growth over the next seven years.

Application Insights:

The feature phone application segment accounted for the largest revenue share of over 60% in 2017. The growth can be attributed to the increasing demand for low-cost smartphones with basic features such as text messaging and calling. The growing preference for traditional cell phones is also driving the demand from this segment.

The smartphone application segment is expected to witness a CAGR of XX% from 2018 to 2028 owing to an increased usage of advanced technology products that offer enhanced functionality and internet access. Furthermore, growing penetration rates of 4G technology have boosted product sales in this application category since 2016, when compared with 3G technologies. The growing adoption rate among working-class adults has been fueling market growth across North America and Europe since 2014 due largely on account of price factors among other factors such as improved performance, additional features offered by these devices than that available in basic cell phones at lower prices resulting in high adoption rate among working-class adults, especially in developed economies like the U.S.

Regional Analysis:

The Asia Pacific dominated the global market in terms of revenue share in 2017. The region is expected to continue its dominance over the forecast period owing to increasing demand for smartphones and digital services. Increasing penetration of 3G and 4G network connectivity is also anticipated to drive the regional growth over the forecast period. North America accounted for a significant share in 2017, owing to high demand from U.S.-based smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., LG Electronics Inc., Motorola Mobility LLC, HTC Corporation, Google LLC, among others for manufacturing FPC connectors used on their devices' PCBs (printed circuit boards).

Growth Factors:

• Increasing demand for smartphones and other mobile devices
• Rapid technological advancements in the field of connectors
• Rising trend of miniaturization in electronic devices
• The growing popularity of wearable electronics
• The proliferation of 4G and 5G networks

Report Scope

The statistic shows the market share of unlocked smartphone shipments by vendor in the United States from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, BLU accounted for 35.6 percent of unlocked smartphone shipments in the United States.

Online beauty stores have been booming in recent years, with the growing popularity of e-commerce driving this growth. In 2020, social distancing and stay-at-home orders pushed consumers to leverage online platforms to fulfill their shopping needs, swelling demand for online sellers of cosmetics and perfumes. During this time, consumers were spending less on eating out and transportation, causing disposable income to grow and boosting demand for discretionary products. However, recovering in-person shopping trends and unfavorable macroeconomic conditions in 2022 and 2023, including elevated inflation and consumer certainty, led to revenue losses, although these were insufficient to reverse pandemic gains. These trends will cause revenue to strengthen at an estimated CAGR of 11.4% to $48.1 billion through the end of 2024, including a 2.4% gain that year alone. To remain competitive, online sellers have had to adjust their product offerings to align with prominent consumer preferences, with many now carrying K-beauty, cruelty-free, sustainable and clean beauty products. Online retailers must adapt to significant competition as many consumers prefer shopping in person for beauty products. Similarly, consumers have been becoming increasingly price-sensitive, leveraging online platforms to compare prices across retailers and find the best deals, enhancing price-based competition and harming profit. Online sellers can struggle to compete with industry giants like Amazon and Ulta because of their economies of scale; online retailers also compete with traditional stores that offer a more immersive shopping experience and allow consumers to try most products on themselves, attracting many buyers. Moving forward, online sellers of beauty products will continue to grow as the number of e-commerce sales rises. Online beauty sellers will benefit from the ongoing economic recovery as rising disposable income and consumer confidence drive demand for discretionary products, driving new cosmetic and fragrance sales. During this time, retailers will stock up on products to serve new niches, including male cosmetics, to appeal to growing markets. Heightened internal and external competition will remain a significant threat, preventing drastic gains. Revenue is set to rise at an estimated CAGR of 3.0% to $55.7 billion through 2029.

Apple is one of the most influential and recognisable brands in the world, responsible for the rise of the smartphone with the iPhone. Valued at over $2 trillion in 2021, it is also the most valuable...

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.

How many people have iPhones in the United States?

In 2022, there were more than 120 million iPhone users in the United States, accounting for nearly 49 percent of all smartphone users in the country. Overall, nearly 300 million people in the United States use a smartphone, which means that roughly 90 percent of the country’s population has access to a smartphone. Apple iPhone worldwide

As of 2022, Apple’s iOS operating system had a share of close to 60 percent of the mobile operating system market in the United States, the country with the highest market share both for the iPhone and the iOS operating system. Apple did not enjoy such a dominant market position in any other country, yet remained one of the top three smartphone vendors worldwide, selling more than 200 million iPhones every year. Taken together, the top three smartphone vendors Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi accounted for over half of the annual smartphone shipments during the second quarter of 2022.

iPhone is Apple’s main revenue source The iPhone is Apple’s main source of revenue, consistently generating around 50 percent of the company's sales worldwide. Apple does offer a multitude of other products across a variety of consumer electronics categories, including laptops, smartwatches, and tech-related services such as its App Store, Apple Pay, and cloud storage.

The statistic shows the total smartphone sales value from 2013 to 2017, broken down by geographical region. In 2017, smartphones with a value of 36.8 billion U.S. dollars were sold in Latin America.

Smartphone sales revenue - additional information

Revenue from global smartphone sales is estimated at about 400 billion U.S. dollars in 2015. Around a quarter of the global revenue from smartphone sales is generated in China. In 2015, smartphone sales in the country are predicted to amount to more than a hundred billion U.S. dollars in revenues. North America, leveraging mainly on U.S. figures, is the second most profitable smartphone market in the world. In 2015, smartphone sales in the U.S. are projected to add up to 51 billion U.S. dollars, ten billion U.S. dollars more than in 2014.

As one third of the world’s population is projected to own a smartphone by 2017, smartphone shipments worldwide are projected to increase. Shipments passed the one billion mark for the first time in 2013, and are forecasted to total almost two billion units by 2019. Again, China is a distant leader with just over 390 million smartphones shipped in 2014; this figure is expected to increase to 426 million units by 2016. Led by the United States, North America accounted for 177.3 million smartphone shipments in 2014. India and Brazil are also amongst the leading countries in regards to smartphone shipments. By 2019, India is expected to have almost 15 percent of the smartphone shipment market share, followed by the U.S. with about ten percent, and Brazil with four. China is expected to maintain its leadership, with nearly half of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

Asia Pacific Fintech Market size was valued at USD 450 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 1150 Billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 12.5% from 2025 to 2032.

Digital Payment Adoption: Digital payment adoption will have a big impact on the Asia-Pacific Fintech Market. According to the World Bank's Global Findex 2021, digital payments in Southeast Asia expanded from 32% in 2014 to 69% in 2021, driven by growing smartphone usage and the COVID-19 pandemic's digital acceleration. This transition is being driven by the widespread usage of smartphones and the growing inclination for cashless transactions, which is opening up a broader market for digital payment solutions.

The statistic shows unit shipments of unlocked smartphones by vendor in the United States from 2014 to 2015. In 2015, BLU shipped 5.2 million unlocked smartphones in the United States.

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.

Apple claimed a 17.7 percent share of the market in the second quarter of 2024, an increase from the previous quarter. Apple's long time competitor, Samsung, ranked first with a market share of 18.3 percent. Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market Apple has been amongst the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009. With the decline of former market leaders Nokia and RIM, Apple and Samsung were able to grow their presence in the market. As a result of political pressure, tariffs and restrictions imposed by the U.S, Chinese manufacturer Huawei has recently dropped off of the top five list in the smartphone market, while Xiaomi, Oppo, and Transsion have gained ground. Coronavirus (COVD-19) pandemic impact on iPhone sales While the long-term impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on sale is difficult to determine, the immediate impact was quickly visible. While large quarterly fluctuations are normal for Apple’s revenue cycle, one must look back to 2017 to find two consecutive quarters in which Apple generated less than 30 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from the iPhone. A less strong performance in the first quarter of 2024, lead by the iPhone 16, gave Apple the second spot in terms of quarterly global unit shipments after Samsung, although strong sales in the fourth quarter of every year is a common occurrence with Apple products.

Android maintained its position as the leading mobile operating system worldwide in the first quarter of 2025 with a market share of about 71.88 percent. Android's closest rival, Apple's iOS, had a market share of approximately 27.65 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, 66 percent of iOS users had iOS 17 installed, while in the same month only 13 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 139 million units in 2008 to 1.39 billion units in 2023. In 2020, smartphone sales decreased to 1.38 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.