Top 15 best-selling cell phones of all time

Billions of people and growing use a cell phone daily. The preferred devices vary, changing based on the most modern technological inventions and new user needs. It is undeniable that today’s phones are very different from their predecessors, smartphones have conquered the market and continue to be renewed in functions and aesthetics.

Despite not completely supplanting record sales of some phones, which have marked an indelible milestone in the evolution of technology, their performance is unparalleled. Smartphones will certainly continue to advance in the coming years, but it is not certain that there will be devices capable of equaling the sales of the first in the ranking on their own, considering the high competition.

In this article, we will find out which are the 15 best-selling cell phones of all time, analyzing sales from their release on the market until 2023. We will use the ranking by Visual Capitalist, combining information from Wikipedia, Yahoo Finance, and Omdia to provide a realistic representation of the most successful devices.

The 15 best-selling cell phones of all time

As anticipated, first place in the ranking of best-selling mobile phones does not belong to a smartphone. The most modern cell phones don’t even win the silver medal. In fact, in the first place, we find the Nokia 1100, a timeless success that has racked up more than 250 million sales in just 6 years (from the date of release until the halt of production in 2009).

This is not surprising, given that many have used and appreciated its low price and pocket-sized size in common experience. That’s not all, Nokia also takes second place with the Nokia 1110 with 248 million sales. Out of 15 mobile phones in the ranking, Nokia is present in 7 positions, the same number of times we find Apple with various iPhone models.

Samsung appears only once and is positioned in 11th place - tied with 3 other devices - with the Samsung E1100 with 150 million sales.

Apple’s best-selling smartphone is the iPhone 6, together with the iPhone 6+, which takes 3rd place among the best-selling mobile phones in history with 222 million sales. Unsurprisingly, this model was relaunched in 2017 in India and China.

Best-selling mobile phones in 2023

Nokia dominates the historical ranking of mobile phone sales, but has not maintained this success with the transition to smartphones. Despite the move to Microsoft and then to Hmd Global and the new productions with the Android operating system, in addition to the updates of the much-loved models, it is currently not among the best-selling companies.

The ranking of best-selling phones in 2023, as many imagine, is dominated by Apple and Samsung. We will probably have a very similar situation this year too, given the new releases and the success achieved. Here is the updated ranking of the best-selling mobile phones from last year.

Ranking	Brand	Model	Sales
1st place	Apple	iPhone 14 Pro Max	31 million
2nd place	Apple	iPhone 14	26 million
3rd place	Apple	iPhone 14 Pro	24 million
4th place	Apple	iPhone 13	22 million
5th place	Samsung	Galaxy A14	20 million
6th place	Samsung	Galaxy A14 5G	14 million
7th place	Samsung	Galaxy A54 5G	14 million
8th place	Samsung	Galaxy S23 Ultra	13 million
9th place	Samsung	Galaxy A04e	11 million
10th place	Redmi	Redmi 12C	11 million

It is still interesting to note that Nokia devices no longer represent the top positions, but their record remains unbeaten (and difficult to come close to). To read this data in the right light, various factors should be considered, including the years for which the devices remain on the market and their cost. In fact, for the moment the rankings of the best-selling mobile phones of all time and in 2023 are these.

Original article published on Money.it Italy 2024-03-11 18:37:59. Original title: I 15 cellulari più venduti di tutti i tempi