The 15 best-selling cell phones of all time

Billions of people use a cell phone and this number is continually growing.
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.
Yet, they have not yet managed to completely supplant the sales records of some phones, which have nothing to do with the performance we are used to, but which have marked an indelible milestone in the evolution of technology.
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 mobile phones of all time, analyzing sales from their release on the market until 2023.
In particular, the ranking drawn up by Visual Capitalist comes in handy, combining information from Wikipedia, Yahoo Finance and Omdia to provide a realistic representation of the most successful devices.
The 15 best-selling mobile phones of all time As anticipated, the first place in the ranking of the best-selling mobile phones does not belong to a smartphone.
In fact, the most modern cell phones don't even win the silver medal.
In fact, in 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 interruption of production in 2009).
A fact that is not too surprising, given that in common experience many have used it and appreciated it for its low price and pocket-sized size.
That's not all, Nokia also takes second place in the rankings with the Nokia 1110, belonging to the same line, 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 ranks 11th – tied with 3 other devices – with the 150 million-selling Samsung E1100.
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.
Not surprisingly, this model was relaunched in 2017 in India and China.
Best-selling cell phones Nokia dominates the historical ranking of cell 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 Android operating system, in addition to the updates of the much loved models, it is currently not among the luckiest companies.
The ranking of the best-selling phones in 2023, as many imagine, is in fact 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 do not represent plus the top positions, but their record remained unbeaten (and difficult to come close to).
Various factors should be taken into account, including the years for which the devices remain on the market and their cost, to read this data in the right light.
In fact, for the moment the rankings of the best-selling mobile phones ever and in 2023 are these.
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