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.

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.

The number of Apple iPhone unit sales dramatically increased between 2007 and 2023. Indeed, in 2007, when the iPhone was first introduced, Apple shipped around 1.4 million smartphones. By 2023, this number reached over 231 million units.

The newest models and iPhone’s lasting popularity

Apple has ventured into its 17th smartphone generation with its Phone 15 lineup, which, released in September 2023, includes the 15, 15 Plus, 15 Pro and Pro Max. Powered by the A16 bionic chip and running on iOS 17, these models present improved displays, cameras, and functionalities. On the one hand, such features come, however, with hefty price tags, namely, an average of 1,000 U.S. dollars. On the other hand, they contribute to making Apple among the leading smartphone vendors worldwide, along with Samsung and Xiaomi. In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung shipped over 60 million smartphones, while Apple recorded shipments of roughly 50 million units.

Success of Apple’s other products

Apart from the iPhone, which is Apple’s most profitable product, Apple is also the inventor of other heavy-weight players in the consumer electronics market. The Mac computer and the iPad, like the iPhone, are both pioneers in their respective markets and have helped popularize the use of PCs and tablets. The iPad is especially successful, having remained as the largest vendor in the tablet market ever since its debut. The hottest new Apple gadget is undoubtedly the Apple Watch, which is a line of smartwatches that has fitness tracking capabilities and can be integrated via iOS with other Apple products and services. The Apple Watch has also been staying ahead of other smart watch vendors since its initial release and secures around 50 percent of the market share as of the latest quarter.

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 first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, Apple generated around 69 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from the sales of iPhones. Apple iPhone revenue The Apple iPhone is one of the biggest success stories in the smartphone industry. Since its introduction to the market in 2007, Apple has sold more than 1.5 billion units worldwide. As of the third quarter of 2024, the Apple iPhone’s market share of new smartphone sales was over 16 percent. Much of its accomplishments can be attributed to Apple’s ability to keep the product competitive throughout the years, with new releases and updates. Apple iPhone growth The iPhone has shown to be a crucial product for Apple, considering that the iPhone’s share of the company’s total revenue has consistently grown over the years. In the first quarter of 2009, the iPhone sales were responsible for about a quarter of Apple’s revenue. In the third quarter of FY 2024, this figure reached a high of roughly 50 percent, equating to less than 40 billion U.S. dollars in that quarter. In terms of units sold, Apple went from around 55.8 million units in 2010 to about 232 million in 2023, but registered a peak in the fourth quarter of 2020 with more than 90 million iPhones sold worldwide.

In 2024, the total amount of smartphone shipments reached 1.2 billion units worldwide, an increase Global smartphone shipments worldwide The global smartphone market saw an exceptional growth from 2009, when 173 million smartphones were shipped worldwide to 2016 when smartphone shipments amounted to 1.47 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 19 percent of the global market share, and Samsung accounted for nearly 18 percent.Google’s Android is the most popular smartphone operating system in the world. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Android held over 70 percent of the global smartphone OS market, whereas Apple dominated less than 30 percent.

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.

During the fourth quarter of 2024, Apple shipped around 77 million iPhones, representing a more than 20 million unit increase compared to the previous quarter, though this figure was about 3.3 million units lower than the same quarter in the previous year. There has been a tendency of increased Apple smartphone shipments in the fourth quarters every year since 2011.  iPhones in the global smartphones picture After its release in 2007, the iPhone has gained solid ground in the global smartphone market, with market share fluctuating between 10 and 20 percent in recent years. As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Apple’s iPhones sales composed over 23 percent of the total global smartphone sales. COVID-19 impact With the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), shipments of various high-tech products were expected to stagnate during the first quarter of 2020, according to revised forecasts from March 26, 2020. Fewer smartphone units were expected to be shipped over the course of 2020, compared to previous forecasts. In 2021, however, Apple shipped more units globally than ever before.

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.

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.

Samsung has been a consistent front-row competitor in the global smartphone market. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Samsung held a global smartphone market share of 15.6 percent. Samsung’s smartphone market shareThe smartphone market has fluctuated considerably since 2009. Nokia used to lead the industry with almost 50 percent of the smartphone market share in 2007, but the company’s market presence dropped to around three percent in 2013. Apple and Samsung have remained among the top five smartphone vendors in the world since 2009. Samsung’s Galaxy, first released in 2009, is their main line of smartphone products, while Apple heavily invests in the iPhone, a primary source of revenue for the company. Samsung’s smartphone market share increased significantly in a span of three years, going from three percent in the second quarter of 2009 to 32.2 percent in the second quarter of 2012. None of its competitors have experienced a similar growth. As the overall smartphone market also grew, Samsung was able to maintain its position as the global market leader. In 2024 alone, the Korean electronics giant shipped around 223.5 million smartphones worldwide, and accounted for 19.4 percent of all smartphone shipments worldwide.

Apple’s shipments of iPads fluctuated over the years, peaking in the fourth quarter of 2013 at 26 million devices. During the third quarter of 2024, Apple shipped over 12.5 million tablets worldwide, up from the previous quarter. Apple’s products Although the iPhone has been the main contributor to Apple’s revenue, the iPad accounted for over seven percent of the revenue in the fourth quarter of Apple's 2024 fiscal year. The share of the revenue from iPhones was almost 49 percent, followed by services with over 26 percent, and wearables, home and accessories, with almost ten percent. Smartphone era Apple is the second world leader in the smartphone market. Samsung replaced Apple as the world's leading smartphone vendor with almost 19 percent of the market share in the market for smartphones in the second quarter of 2024.

In 2023, Nokia generated 22.26 billion euros in net sales, a decrease on the 24.9 billion generated the previous year. Nokia's history Founded in 1865, Nokia is a Finnish communications and information technology company. Over the years, Nokia has ventured into different markets: Nokia emerged as a global leader in the mobile market in the early days of the mobile and smartphone era. The company also played a key role in the development of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Nokia was once the leading mobile phone vendor. However, due to slow adaptation to newer smartphone technologies, Nokia gradually lost its market-leading position to rivals like Samsung and Apple and its mobile business began to lose money. Nokia’s business evolution After the sale of its mobile devices division, Nokia focused on the data networking services and telecommunications equipment business through its subsidiary Nokia Networks. As of 2020, Nokia's Networks Business is the most revenue-generating business segment of Nokia. The company has also been involved in cloud computing and mapping applications. As one of the leading telecom infrastructure companies, Nokia faces competition from Huawei, Cisco, Ericsson, and Qualcomm.

The total number of Apple employees dramatically increased from 2005 through to 2024. As of FY 2024, the total number of employees had reached around 164 thousand (only counting full-time equivalent), up from 161 thousand recorded in the previous year. The fiscal year end of the company is September, 30th. Apple Corporation – additional information Founded in 1976, Apple is an American multinational corporation that specializes in computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers and online services. The company initially focused on the production of consumer and business computers. Over the years it has included a more diverse line of electronic products. In 2027, Apple was the world’s 7th largest company and the world’s largest information technology company. Even though Apple was the most valuable brand in the world in 2024, it was not among the world’s largest companies in terms of staff. Other information technology companies, such as Samsung Electronics or IBM, had employed a larger number of people. However, the revenue per employee of Apple turned out to be the highest among leading technology companies. Apple products Apple’s current product line ranges across personal computers, tablet computers, digital music players and smartphones. The iPhone, a line of smartphones designed and produced by Apple, has revolutionized the smartphone industry with its screen-centric design and touch controls. Its global sales have skyrocketed since its introduction in 2007, with about 231 million units sold in 2023. According to the quarterly reports by Apple, the iPhone has generated around half of Apple’s revenue between 2013 and 2024. The iPad, a line of tablet computers, counts as one of the very first players in the global tablet industry. Even though the global market share of the iPad has dropped since 2012, it still dominated the tablet market with a 36 percent share as of the second quarter of 2024.