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.

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.

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.

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 409.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Global smartphone sales – additional information

The number of smartphones sold worldwide reached over 1.5 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 480 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 130 billion U.S. dollars. The United States, as the second most profitable smartphone market, is projected to reach 55.6 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.

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 44.72 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 170 million. By 2015, this figure stood at more than 1.4 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 2.7 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 220 million units in 2011 to around 1.2 billion in 2015, while Symbian’s sales declined to about 28 million units in 2012, and later on was discontinued. Android’s market share jumped from two percent in early 2009 to nearly 82 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 20 percent in the beginning of 2009 to less than one percent four years later. Sales of RIM smartphones declined from around 50 million in 2011 to just over four million in 2015. Meanwhile, Apple’s iOS rose as the second most popular operating system in the world, accounting for around 17 to 24 percent of the market in the last few years. In 2015, Apple sold about 225 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 26 million Windows Phone smartphones in 2015.

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.

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.

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.

The global revenue in the 'Smartphones' segment of the consumer electronics market was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 95 billion U.S. dollars (+20.32 percent). After the fifth consecutive increasing year, the indicator is estimated to reach 562.56 billion U.S. dollars and therefore a new peak in 2029. Find other key market indicators concerning the average price per unit (PPU) and volume. The Statista Market Insights cover a broad range of additional markets.

Smartphone shipments increased from the third quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024. Moreover, at about 331.7 million units, this number was an increase also compared to the around 316 million unit shipments recorded in the third quarter of 2024.

Manufacturers’ market share of smartphone sales in the United States is led by Apple and Samsung, with a market share of 52 percent and 24 percent, respectively, as of the second quarter of 2024. Next to Apple and Samsung are Lenovo and HMD, with respective market shares of 12 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.

As of July 2024, Apple’s iPhone 15 was the most popular smartphone model sold in the United States, accounting for over 17.5 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 80 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 40 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 118 million smartphones were forecast to be sold, with the number of U.S. smartphone users forecast expected to grow in the coming years.

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.

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 80 million devices. Xiaomi made the largest increase among the major smartphone vendors, now selling close to 45 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 28.86 million units, which was enough to give Huawei an 8.3 percent share of the market. By the second quarter of 2020 that figure rose to 54.13 million units, giving the Chinese smartphone vendor a market share of 18.4 percent worldwide. The second quarter of 2020 also marked the first time that Huawei shipped more devices than any other smartphone vendor, shipping 55.8 million units, ahead of the 54.2 million that Samsung shipped. However, in the fourth quarter of 2020, their sales dropped to 34 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 70 million smartphones in every quarter. This came to an end in the first quarter of 2020, when the company shipped 55.33 million devices. However, they have since recovered and in the second quarter of 2021, the 57.75 million units sold were enough to establish Samsung as the smartphone market leaders.

Samsung held a 20 percent share of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2024. Apple followed closely behind, with an overall share of 17 percent.

The changing face of the smartphone market

The make-up of the smartphone market has changed significantly since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost 50 percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, and before the arrival of the iPhone, it was hard for consumers to imagine Nokia becoming a market outsider.

Huawei's rise and fall have had a significant impact on the face of the market. Huawei consistently challenged Apple and Samsung for position at the top of the market, even leading it in the second quarter of 2020. Huawei has not appeared in the top five since the second quarter of 2021, largely as a result of trade restrictions.

RIM’s Blackberry devices stand as an example of the effect large-display touchscreen devices had on the market. Blackberry devices sold on a number of strengths, including a well-designed physical QWERTY keyboard and secure enterprise integration. The Blackberry lost its unique value as touchscreen devices improved, leading to a significant decline in revenue. RIM eventually ceased development of the Blackberry in 2016.

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.

Overall, smartphone manufacturers shipped 1.24 billion smartphones around the world in 2024. Apple led all smartphone manufacturers with 232 million units shipped worldwide, followed by Samsung with 223.4 million units. Impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic The outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused significant delays across the length of the smartphone supply chain. The impact of the pandemic on vendors caused a significant decline in smartphone shipments during the first quarter of 2020. The overall number of smartphones shipped in Q1 2020 fell to just 275.8 million, the lowest volume since Q2 2013. While all manufacturers suffered a dip, Apple smartphone shipments saw the greatest decline. However, in Q4 Apple shipped more smartphones than any other vendor, with over 90 million shipments out of the total smartphone shipments of 386 million shipments.Economic factors influencing end users, the closure of physical stores, and lack of availability also led to a drop off in the number of smartphones sold to end users. However, smartphone sales to end users recovered in the last quarter of 2020 too.

Between 2011 and 2023, the global smartphone market revenue generally increased. In 2022 and 2023, the smartphone market worldwide experienced a decrease, with its size going from over 448 billion U.S. dollars to around 412 billion U.S. dollars.

Apple's global smartphone market share based on shipments has remained relatively stable between 2014 and 2022. Samsung, on the other hand, has fluctuated, whereas Xiaomi has increased their smartphone market share by nearly 10 percentage points since 2014 and now stands as the third largest global smartphone vendor.

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.