In 2021, the number of mobile devices operating worldwide stood at almost 15 billion, up from just over 14 billion in the previous year. The number of mobile devices is expected to reach 18.22 billion by 2025, an increase of 4.2 billion devices compared to 2020 levels.

Moving forward with 5G

As the number of devices grows, so does our dependence on them to fulfill daily functions and activities. The use cases for mobile devices increasingly demand faster connection speeds and lower latency. The 5G network will be critical to fulfilling those demands, operating at significantly faster rates than 4G. In North America, for example, it is expected that there will be 218 million 5G connections, up from just ten million in 2020. This means around 48 percent of all mobile connections in North America. Globally, this figure should reach 20.1 percent by 2025.

6G: looking beyond 5G

While 5G has entered commercialization and is already creating new opportunities, researchers and engineers are already experimenting with 6G. Not only will the number of mobile devices continue to grow but cellular internet-of-things (IoT) devices are set to permeate more industrial sectors in the coming years, meaning a solution will eventually be required for network congestion and data transfer speeds.

6G ought to be capable of solving those problems before they arise, potentially enabling a network connection density ten times greater than that of 5G, and peak data rates up to fifty times faster than the rate of 5G. The Federal Communications Commission in the United States has opened spectrum for experimentation, and China have already launched what is described as a 6G satellite, so that actual potential of 6G should be revealed over the coming decade.

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.

The global smartphone penetration in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 20.3 percentage points. After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the penetration is estimated to reach 74.98 percent and therefore a new peak 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 North America and the Americas.

The global smartphone penetration rate was estimated at ** percent in 2024, up from 2023. This is based on an estimated *** billion smartphone subscriptions worldwide and a global population of around *** 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 ** and ** percent, respectively. Whereas in Sub-Saharan Africa, the same rate only stands at ** percent as of late 2023, showing a roughly ** 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 global number of smartphone users in was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total *** billion users (+***** percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach *** 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 *** 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.

As of the first quarter of 2024, Samsung was the leading smartphone vendor, holding 20 percent of the market. Apple followed closely occupying 17 percent of the global smartphone market. Other vendors had lower shares.

The statistic shows the total number of mobile phone users worldwide from 2015 to 2020. In 2019 the number of mobile phone users is forecast to reach **** billion. Mobile phone users worldwide - additional information The number of mobile phone users in the world is expected to pass the **** billion mark by 2019. In 2016, an estimated **** percent of the population worldwide already owned a mobile phone. The mobile phone penetration is forecasted to continue to grow, rounding up to ** percent by 2019. China was predicted to have just over *** billion mobile connections in 2017, while India was forecast to reach over *** billion. By 2019, China is expected to reach almost *** billion mobile connections and India almost *** billion. Most of the mobile market growth can be attributed to the increasing popularity of smartphones. By 2014, around ** percent of all mobile users were smartphone users. By 2018, this number is expected to reach over ** percent. The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to grow by one billion in a time span of five years, which means the number of smartphone users in the world is expected to reach *** billion by 2019. Samsung and Apple are leading smartphone vendors, with about ** percent of the market share each.

How many smartphone mobile network subscriptions are active worldwide? The number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions worldwide reached almost seven billion in 2023, and is forecast to exceed 7.7 billion by 2028. China, India, and the United States are the countries with the highest number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions. Smartphone unit sales levelling off The smartphone market still has high growth potential, with the smartphone penetration rate remaining lower than 70 percent in many highly populated markets, in particular China and India. Global smartphone revenue reached 481 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, but was expected to have fallen to 463 billion in 2022. Despite stagnating sales, the increasing average selling price of smartphones is expected to support the market over the coming years. Leading smartphone vendors The leading smartphone vendors today are Samsung and Apple. These technology companies account for about 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 ** 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.

In 2021, the number of mobile users worldwide stood at 7.1 billion, with forecasts suggesting this is likely to rise to 7.26 billion by 2022. In 2025, the number of mobile users worldwide is projected to reach 7.49 billion.

The number of smartphone users in the United States was forecast to continuously increase between 2024 and 2029 by in total 17.4 million users (+5.61 percent). After the fifteenth consecutive increasing year, the smartphone user base is estimated to reach 327.54 million 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 Mexico and Canada.

The mobile phone unit shipments worldwide increased from 2009 to 2016, to then plateau and slowly decrease. The mobile phone shipments were significantly impacted by the coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic in 2020 and by the economic downturn. In 2023, **** billion units are forecast to be shipped.

China is leading the ranking by number of smartphone users, recording ****** million users. Following closely behind is India with ****** million users, while Seychelles is trailing the ranking with **** million users, resulting in a difference of ****** million users to the ranking leader, China. 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).

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 ninth 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 Australia & Oceania and Asia.

The number of cellphone insurance policies is predicted to exceed 860 million worldwide by 2030. There were 373 million policies for cellphone coverage in 2022 and the number is expected to more than double by 2030, according to Next Move Strategic Consulting.

This statistic has been taken from the 2015 GfK Roper Reports. It shows the aggregated results of online and in-person surveys conducted in ** countries around the world in 2015. Participants were asked which activities they have done on their mobile phone in the last ** days. Multiuple answers were possible. Some ***** percent of worldwide survey respondents stated that they made or received voice calls on their mobile phone in the last ** days.   GfK Roper Reports Worldwide are designed as a global data and insight service, aiming to provide a longitudinal view on how consumers' everyday lives are changing. Data is collected for more than ** countries using a standardized framework to provide the possibility of comparing multiple countries.   For further information on the Gfk Roper Reports, contact GfK.   The GfK Group, founded 1934 in Germany, is the fourth largest market research organization in the world, operating in more than 100 countries across the world with over 10,000 employees.

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

The statistic shows the share of mobile phone sales worldwide to end users by vendor from 1997 to 2014. In 2014, Samsung held a market share of **** percent of mobile phone sales worldwide. Mobile phone market share - additional information With a market share of about ** percent, Samsung is the leading mobile phone vendor worldwide. Samsung has held the top position since 2012 when the South Korean company passed Nokia, Samsung’s closest competitor at the time. Nokia has seen its mobile phone market share fall from nearly ** percent in 2008 to almost ** percent in 2014, dropping to third place in terms of market share in the beginning of 2015. The second largest mobile phone vendor in the world is Apple, with a share of around ** percent. Samsung is especially known for some of its consumer products such as mobile devices and home entertainment systems. In the third quarter of 2015, the South Korean company sold over *** million mobile phones. Samsung also leads the smartphone market; the company accounts for **** percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide, with *** million units in 2016 alone. The success in the mobile market is reflected in the company’s global revenue. Apple has taken over the position of second largest mobile phone vendor in the world due to Nokia's decline, and the increasing popularity of smartphones. The company shipped just over *** million smartphones in 2016. The iPhone is Apple's main product, and generates more than ** percent of the company's revenue.

In 2024, the total amount of smartphone shipments reached *** billion units worldwide, an increase Global smartphone shipments worldwide The global smartphone market saw an exceptional growth from 2009, when *** million smartphones were shipped worldwide to 2016 when smartphone shipments amounted to **** billion. Much of this increase can be attributed to the iPhone release in 2007. With its consumer-friendly design, Apple introduced multimedia functions to smartphones, offering more than basic features such as e-mail and web browsing. Apple’s release pushed the competitors to respond with new models, and started to shape the consumers’ habits. This shift can be observed in smartphone vendors’ shipment figures. Nokia and Blackberry/RIM – previous leaders in smartphone shipments – saw their figures slowly decrease over the years, whereas Samsung and Apple increased their market share. In 2024, Apple nearly ** percent of the global market share, and Samsung accounted for nearly ** percent.Google’s Android is the most popular smartphone operating system in the world. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Android held over ** percent of the global smartphone OS market, whereas Apple dominated less than ** percent.

This statistic shows the global market share held by the leading mobile phone vendors in 2014, based on the number of mobile phones shipped. Samsung's mobile phone market share was **** percent.

Mobile phone manufacturers' market share - additional information

Over **** billion mobile phones were shipped worldwide in 2013, following on from the **** billion units shipped in 2012. Samsung was the leading mobile phone vendor in 2013 with almost a quarter of all mobile phone shipments. This amounted to *** million unit shipments of phones, an increase from the ***** million shipments in 2012. In the final quarter of 2013 the company also held a **** percent share in all mobile phone sales worldwide, selling over *** million units in the whole of 2013. Sales reached an all-time high in the final quarter of 2013 when an estimated ***** million units were sold across the world.

The second largest mobile phone company in 2013 in terms of shipments was Nokia, which had a **** percent share of worldwide phone shipments. A total of *** million units of Nokia devices were shipped in 2013, a fall from *** million units in the previous year. Nokia has also seen its market share in sales to end users fall in 2013. In the final quarter of 2012, ** percent of all mobile phone sales to customers were Nokia devices, but this figure fell to **** percent a year later. The Finnish company’s share in the smartphone market has also dropped from **** percent at the beginning of 2010 to *** percent at the start of 2013.

Apple had an *** percent share of mobile phone shipments in 2013, making it the third largest mobile phone vendor behind Samsung and Nokia. A total of 150 million iPhones were sold worldwide in 2013, an increase from *** million in 2012.