Omdia answered an urgent question that was on his mind. Which smartphone was the most popular last year? When we say more popular, we are based on the number of units shipped worldwide. Before we get to the answer, let’s first go back to the same question for 2019. That year, the The Apple iPhone XR was the best-selling phone globally, with 46.3 million units delivered. The average selling price of the device was $ 777USD. Number two was the Apple iPhone 11 with 37.3 million devices sold.
Interestingly, it was the 2019 runner-up who took the crown last year, with the iPhone 11 in the lead, with an impressive 64.8 million units sold last year. And it wasn’t even close. While the difference between the number of phones sold between the first and second placed models was only 9 million units in 2019, last year that difference was 40.6 million handsets. Perhaps due to the pandemic that prevented many consumers from making a living last year, the second most popular device was the iPhone SE (2020). With an average selling price of $ 451, the iPhone 8 doppelganger (albeit with an internal A13 Bionic and 3 GB of storage) shipped 24.2 million devices.
Apple was also responsible for the third most popular phone worldwide in the past year, the iPhone 12. Although the pandemic forced Apple to launch the phone more than a month after the normal September date, it was delivered 23.3 million times. Part of Apple’s first series of 5G phones, the handset was the second most expensive phone on the list, with an average selling price of $ 896.
The Apple iPhone 11 was the best-selling phone in 2020
Samsung was responsible for the next three phones on the list as the The Galaxy A51 won the fourth place, the The Galaxy A21’s economical phone ranked fifth, and the Galaxy A01 was the sixth. These three models were delivered 23.2 million, 19.4 million and 16.9 million times, respectively. While the A51 can be considered a mid-ranger, the Galaxy A01 is the lowest-priced phone in the top ten, with an average selling price of $ 115, placing it in the budget category.
Only Apple had flagship models on the list of best-selling smartphones in 2020
Ironically, right after the cheapest phone on the list is the most expensive. With an average selling price of $ 1,232, the The Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max was the seventh most popular phone of 2020. It is also at the top of Apple’s 2020 phone line. That phone was followed by Samsung Galaxy A11 with a total of 15.3 million sold last year. Xiaomi had the ninth most popular phone last year with the Redmi Note 9 Pro. 15 million units shipped with an average selling price of $ 161. And completing the top ten of the best selling phones in 2020 was the iPhone 12 mini with 14.5 million phones sold. This model is not selling as well as Apple expected, according to reports, so there have been rumors that Apple will halt production of the phone during the second quarter.
Considering that the iPhone 12 models on the list were only available for less than two months during 2020, we would say that Apple should feel very good about the popularity of the iPhone. In fact, looking at both the 2019 and 2020 lists, we can see that only Apple was able to place the flagship models among the 20 phones listed in the two years.
Jusy Hong, senior research manager for wireless components and devices at Omdia said, “The top 10 list illustrates Apple’s control of the overall smartphone market and the strength of its brand compared to all other smartphone OEMs. list also illustrates that other OEMs, even a globally well-positioned brand like Samsung, have trouble reaching consumers with their own premium devices – no Galaxy S or Note-line models have reached the top 10. The only other OEM with a real chance to challenge Apple’s position as leading premium smartphone OEMs, Huawei will see its role in the international smartphone market continue to decline. Other brands such as Xiaomi, Vivo and OPPO have other product portfolio priorities in addition to challenging Apple in the premium segment at this time. “