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 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.

Manufacturers’ market share of smartphone sales in the United States is led by Apple and Samsung, with a market share of ** percent and ** percent, respectively, as of the second quarter of 2024. Next to Apple and Samsung are Lenovo and HMD, with respective market shares of ** and one percent.  Global smartphone market While Apple continues to lead the U.S. smartphone market, it has traditionally lagged behind on the global scale. Samsung has been the leading smartphone vendor worldwide since 2012. However, Samsung’s lead in terms of market share has started to dwindle in recent years, meaning that Apple and other Chinese competitors, such as Xiaomi, vivo, and Huawei, have seen a boost in the smartphone industry. Apple’s traction on the global scale in 2020 comes from its move towards 5G-enabled smartphones, which have doubled sales one year, from 2020 to 2021, alone. Apple is currently the leading vendor in terms of global 5G smartphone shipments. The introduction of 5G throughout the world brings with it the possibility to upheave the smartphone market as we know it. Are U.S. consumers satisfied with Apple and Samsung phones? Apple and Samsung not only lead the smartphone market in the United States in terms of usage, but also in terms of customer satisfaction. The highest ranked smartphone models on the American customer satisfaction index are nearly all Samsung Galaxy and Apple iPhone models. Furthermore, it appears that U.S. smartphone users are unlikely to change their primarily used smartphone brand anytime soon.

The forecast released in January 2022 anticipated a 1.7 billion U.S. dollar increase in the sales value of smartphones sold in the United States, for a total of 74.7 billion U.S. dollars in sales.

Apple and Samsung lead U.S. smartphone market    

Apple and Samsung are the leading smartphone vendors in the United States with a combined sales market share of close to 70 percent. Both companies have witnessed increasing market shares in recent years, although Samsung’s market share decreased in 2019. Together, the leading smartphone brands are used by around 75 percent of smartphone users in the United States.

Higher smartphone usage in urban areas and high-income groups    

Smartphone penetration in the United States varies according to location. Compared to rural areas, smartphone usage in urban and suburban areas is higher by over ten percent (195003). Smartphone penetration also correlates with income as higher income groups have larger smartphone penetration rates . Overall, the trend over the past years seems to be that the growth in penetration is somewhat the same over the different groups but that the adoption level of smartphones was initially higher with urban groups and higher income groups when smartphones first hit the market. This could be as a result of the high initial price of smartphones- only people with higher incomes could afford them, and the higher demand for network coverage in urban areas due to there being more smartphone users.

In the second quarter of 2021, the shares of all smartphones under 400 U.S. dollars disappeared in the global smartphone market. By 2022, the share of smartphones over 800 U.S. dollars increased to 41 percent.

In 2020, more smartphones were sold in Greater China than any other region in the world at over 368 million units. The annual global smartphone sales plateaued at around 1.5 billion units in the previous years, but dropped in 2020 to 1.38 billion units, due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before 2020, only China and other emerging countries in Asia were still showing growth. The potential for growth in China is reflected in the country's smartphone penetration rate, as currently, only around half of the population is using a smartphone.

Americas and Europe stagnating
Sales in the Americas region and Europe are predicted to decrease compared to pre-pandemic sales, with the largest drop in smartphone sales in 2021 predicted for North America, where smartphone sales are expected to decrease by around 8 million units in 2021 compared to 2019.

Africa and Middle East with modest growth

In contrast to the decreasing markets in Europa and the Americas, smartphone sales are expected to increase in Sub-Saharan countries and North Africa as well as the Middle East from 2019 to 2021. Shipments to the Middle East and Africa have been steadily growing since 2013. Drivers for the growth in these markets are the still low smartphone penetration and the average selling price for smartphones that is only half of the average price in North America.

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.

This statistic shows the global revenue from smartphone sales between 2013 and 2020. According to the source, the global revenue from smartphone sales in 2020 would amount to ***** billion U.S. dollars.

Global smartphone sales – additional information

The number of smartphones sold worldwide reached over *** billion units in 2019. That same year, over 40 percent of people in the world were expected to have access to a smartphone. The upward trend in global smartphone sales revenue since 2013 is, however, projected to plateau in 2017 at close to *** billion U.S. dollars. By this time, around a quarter of the global revenue from smartphone sales worldwide is estimated to be generated in China, amounting to more than *** billion U.S. dollars. The United States, as the second most profitable smartphone market, is projected to reach **** billion U.S. dollars in sales in 2017.

Smartphones that run the Android operating system are currently the most popular with the largest share on the global market. Android has consistently held a dominant position in smartphone sales worldwide over the last 10 years. In the first quarter of 2016, more Android devices were sold than Windows, iOS and Blackberry OS devices combined. Apple’s iOS operating system is currently the second most-used in the world. iPhone sales have risen strongly over the years. In the first quarter of 2017, Apple sold more than 78 million units of the iPhone, which accounted for roughly 69 percent of Apple’s total revenue.

The statistic shows the total smartphone sales value from 2013 to 2017, broken down by geographical region. In 2017, smartphones with a value of **** billion U.S. dollars were sold in Latin America. Smartphone sales revenue - additional information Revenue from global smartphone sales is estimated at about *** 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 *********** 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 ** billion U.S. dollars, ** billion U.S. dollars more than in 2014. As ********* of the world’s population is projected to own a smartphone by 2017, smartphone shipments worldwide are projected to increase. Shipments passed the 1 billion mark for the first time in 2013, and are forecasted to total almost ********* units by 2019. Again, China is a distant leader with just over *** million smartphones shipped in 2014; this figure is expected to increase to *** million units by 2016. Led by the United States, North America accounted for ***** 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 ** percent of the smartphone shipment market share, followed by the U.S. with about ** percent, and Brazil with *. China is expected to maintain its leadership, with nearly half of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

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.

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.

In 2018, mid-tier smartphones were the highest selling price category worldwide. Out of more than 1.55 billion smartphones sold, nearly 520 million were mid-tier smartphones, surpassing the low-end category for the first time. As overall smartphone sales have been plateauing worldwide, the expansion of mid-tier and high-end devices contributes to the continual growth in global revenue from smartphone sales each year, reaching over 500 billion USD in 2018.

Smartphone price categories  As the market shifts away from low-end smartphones, the average global selling price has now surpassed 300 U.S. dollars. Though a high price is not always the only indicator of a top-tier device, the high-end category consistently includes high-spec, well-known models such as the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy models. In contrast, the mid-tier category differs more by region, as a low-end phone in North America and Western Europe, for instance, might be considered mid-range in emerging economies with lower smartphone penetration.

In 2023, almost *** million used smartphone units were shipped globally, a market that includes both officially refurbished and used smartphones. By 2027, there will be over *** million more shipments, resulting in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of *** percent from 2022 to 2027. Refurbished smartphone market As observed by the number of shipments, the refurbished smartphone market is also forecast to grow in the coming years in terms of revenue. Indeed, in 2021, the size of the refurbished smartphone market amounted to roughly ** billion U.S. dollars and will reach almost *** billion U.S. dollars by 2031. Latin America and India were the leaders of the refurbished smartphone market, registering a market growth of ** and ** percent between 2020 and 2021, respectively, while the United States ranked third, with a market growth of ** percent. Refurbished smartphones in the United States Despite the refurbished smartphone market growth in the United States, American consumers tend to buy new phones instead of reconditioned ones. Of those who do decide to go down the refurbished phone route, buyers have tended to prefer iPhones rather than Android smartphones, with the iPhone XR and the iPhone 11 the most popular refurbished smartphones among consumers in the country.

In the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung shipped around 52 million smartphones, a decrease from the both the previous quarter and the same quarter of the previous year. Samsung’s sales consistently place the smartphone giant among the top three smartphone vendors in the world, alongside Xiaomi and Apple. Samsung smartphone sales – how many phones does Samsung sell? Global smartphone sales reached over 1.2 billion units during 2024. While the global smartphone market is led by Samsung and Apple, Xiaomi has gained ground following the decline of Huawei. Together, these three companies hold more than 50 percent of the global smartphone market share.

Apple appears to have recovered from their coronavirus (COVID-19) related drop in sales in 2020 and 2021, selling more units in the fourth quarter of 2021 than ever over the demonstrated period, with over ** million devices. Xiaomi made the largest increase among the major smartphone vendors, now selling close to ** million devices.

Huawei's rise and fall

Huawei had enjoyed solid growth since the first quarter of 2016, and were one of the companies to best weather the initial impacts of the pandemic. At the start of the reported period, the company sold ***** million units, which was enough to give Huawei an *** percent share of the market. By the second quarter of 2020 that figure rose to ***** million units, giving the Chinese smartphone vendor a market share of **** percent worldwide. The second quarter of 2020 also marked the first time that Huawei shipped more devices than any other smartphone vendor, shipping **** million units, ahead of the **** million that Samsung shipped. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, their sales dropped to ** million units during the first quarter of 2021, they were no longer part of the leading smartphone vendors by sold units.

COVID-19 took a heavy toll on Samsung

While some vendors showed resilience to the COVID-19 outbreak, Samsung first took a heavier knock. For approximately six-and-a-half years, Samsung has shipped more than ** million smartphones in every quarter. This came to an end in the first quarter of 2020, when the company shipped ***** million devices. However, they have since recovered and in the second quarter of 2021, the ***** million units sold were enough to establish Samsung as the smartphone market leaders.

The smartphone sales volume of Sony Corporation consistently decreased in recent years, reaching a value of *** million units in fiscal year 2020. The company's smartphone sales dropped by *** million units in the last two years.

Competition is becoming tougher

According to news reports, Sony’s struggle in the mobile communications unit is closely related to decreased sales in Europe, Japan, and Latin America. One reason for this development can be found in the growing competition by manufacturers like Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi. Xiaomi and Oppo have entered the European market in recent years, putting more pressure on Sony. While the company does well when it comes to its game and network services, the annual sales of Sony's mobile communications segment, which incorporates smartphones and internet-related services, decreased significantly.

Changing attitudes of consumers

The global smartphone market has repeatedly been described as saturated. While there are some fluctuations throughout the years, even Apple and Samsung at times had to report shrinking profits. As current smartphone technology is already advanced, consumers are seeing less technological improvements in products, leading to fewer incentives to buy a new phone with only minor differences for a higher price. The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic also contributed to changes in consumer attitudes. Sony stated in 2020 that the high-end smartphone market was contracting as customers preferred lower-priced models.

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.

Smartphones with a display size of six inches or more amounted to 43.4 percent of the total unit sales in the United States during the second quarter of 2019. The same screen size had less than 10 percent of the market only two years earlier.

In 2024, the volume of smartphone shipments in India was about *** million, up slightly from about *** million the previous year. The year-on-year change rate was at four percent. 5G smartphone shipments reached *** million in the same year. And the average selling price reached a new peak of *** U.S. dollars. 5G in India Since October 2022, 5G services have been launched in India in 13 cities, including most of the major Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Data Networks won 5G licenses through auctions for a total of *** trillion Indian rupees. Reliance Jio, the most popular telecom service provider in India with close to ** percent market share, was also one of the first to offer 5G services. Popular smartphones in India The smartphone market in India is incredibly competitive. Some of the most popular smartphone brands in the country were from China, including Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo. The market was dominated by medium to lower-priced phones, and models from the premium price category had a hard time increasing their market share. But recently, Apple’s iPhone started to see increased popularity among urban elites, and in 2023, more than ** million units of iPhones were sold in India.

Apple claimed a **** 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 **** percent. Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market Apple has been among 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 ** 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 ****** 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.