Technology
Most Popular Smartphones in the World – By Sales Volume
The iPhone 16 was the world’s best-selling smartphone in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research full-year data published January 28, 2026. Apple took seven of the top ten spots by model sales, while Samsung held three. Together, Apple and Samsung have owned every position in the global top ten for four straight years, a concentration that has no modern precedent.
But here is the twist most “best phone” roundups skip: popularity by sales and popularity by reviews are completely different questions. This article covers what the world actually bought. The rankings that follow are based on units sold, sourced from Counterpoint Research and IDC.
Top 10 Best-Selling Smartphones in the World
1. Apple iPhone 16 | $699
The volume leader. A 6.1-inch display, A18 chip, and the new Camera Control button brought Apple Intelligence to the widest audience yet. At $699, it hit the sweet spot between flagship features and accessibility. Counterpoint tracked it as the global sales leader for most of 2025, and it never really let go.
2. Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max | $1,199
The premium anchor. A 6.9-inch ProMotion display, 5x telephoto zoom, and ProRes video recording define the Pro Max experience. It carries the highest average selling price of any model in the lineup, yet it still cracked the top two worldwide. The US and wealthy markets drove the bulk of those numbers.
3. Apple iPhone 16 Pro | $999
The compact Pro option. It shares the A18 Pro chip and ProRes capabilities with its larger sibling, but in a 6.3-inch frame for buyers who want the performance without the size. Strong across markets where consumers want Pro features but find the Pro Max unwieldy.
4. Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max | $1,099+
A late-2025 launch, yet it still grabbed fourth place by year-end. The A19 Pro chip and all-48MP rear camera system set the bar for Apple’s next cycle. Even with limited time on shelves, it sold enough to outpace every Android competitor on the list.
5. Samsung Galaxy A16 5G | ~$200
The best-selling Android phone of 2025 by a wide margin. A 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate, and six years of OS and security updates at roughly $200 is the value proposition that moved enormous volume. This is the phone that fills markets where buyers spend $200 to $350, not $1,200.
6. Samsung Galaxy A06 4G | ~$150
Entry-level volume champion. A 6.7-inch display, 5,000mAh battery, headphone jack, and expandable storage at around $150. It dominates price-sensitive and emerging markets where the feature-to-price ratio matters more than camera megapixels. The Galaxy A06 does not try to be impressive. It tries to be useful.
7. Apple iPhone 17 | $799
The base model grew faster than expected after its fall 2025 launch. It finally got 120Hz refresh rate and higher base storage, closing the gap with the Pro line in ways previous base models had not. Switchers from mid-range Android found it compelling, and it climbed the rankings quickly.
8. Apple iPhone 15 | Discounted
Still in the top ten through carrier promotions and price drops after the iPhone 16 launch. The A16 Bionic and 48MP main camera remain capable, and at a reduced price it pulled buyers who did not need the latest silicon. It is the discount lane that keeps on giving for Apple.
9. Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra | ~$1,299
The flagship Android. Dynamic AMOLED 2X with 120Hz, the built-in S Pen, and seven years of OS updates define the premium Android experience. In South Korea it held 21% market share in some months, a Samsung home-court dominance that rivals what Apple does in the US.
10. Apple iPhone 16e | $599
Apple’s value play. The A18 chip and Apple Intelligence at the lowest iPhone price point pulled in buyers who wanted an iPhone but could not justify $699. It competed directly with the Galaxy A-series and succeeded at converting Android switchers who had been on the fence about leaving.
Most Popular Smartphones by Country
The global rankings mask significant regional variation. Here is how the picture changes when you zoom in.
United States: iPhone 16 leads by a clear margin. Galaxy S25 Ultra and Galaxy A16 each hold roughly 8% share. iOS dominates with 58% of the US market versus Android’s 41%, a gap that flips the global average on its head.
Japan: Four of the top five phones are iPhones. Japan is the only major market where a Google Pixel cracks the top five, with the Pixel 8a holding around 5% share. iOS commands 69% of Japan’s smartphone market, the highest iOS share of any country tracked.
South Korea: Samsung’s home turf. Galaxy S25 Ultra held 21% market share in some months of 2025, and the base Galaxy S25 also ranked highly. Samsung does in South Korea what Apple does in the US.
France: Galaxy S25 led with 13% share in early 2025. European markets skew more toward Android than the US, and France is a good example: the top Samsung and Xiaomi models routinely outsell iPhones there.
China: iPhone 16 Pro Max leads but captures only around 4% of the market. China is the most fragmented major market alongside India, with Huawei and Oppo competing aggressively for every point of share. No single model dominates.
India: The most diverse smartphone market on Earth. Vivo Y29 was the top-seller with just 4% share. Oppo, Redmi, and iPhone all appear in the top five. Android holds roughly 95% of the Indian market. There is no single winner here, which is itself the story.
Android vs. iPhone: Why Apple Wins the Model Rankings
Android runs on roughly 72% of all smartphones in use worldwide. Apple holds about 28%. By that measure, Android dominates. And yet, seven of the top ten best-selling individual models are iPhones.
The reason is counterintuitive and worth understanding. Apple sells a small number of models globally, and they sell in enormous volumes. Samsung’s Galaxy S series competes directly with iPhone Pro models, but Samsung also splits its volume across the Galaxy A series, Galaxy Z foldables, and dozens of regional variants. Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Motorola each sell millions of phones, but each of those brands spreads its numbers across many different models.
Apple’s entire global volume concentrates into one to four flagship models at any given time. That is why a single iPhone can outsell any individual Android phone even while Android as an operating system outsells iOS overall. The pie is split differently than it looks.
Most Popular Smartphones of All Time
The 2025 rankings represent a concentrated present, but the historical record is broader. The iPhone 6 from 2014 remains the best-selling smartphone model ever, with roughly 222 million units sold. It was the first iPhone to offer large-screen options, 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, and the world responded accordingly.
Before the smartphone era, the Nokia 1100 from 2003 holds the all-time record for any mobile phone at 250 million units. It was a basic GSM phone with a flashlight and interchangeable covers. Durability and simplicity sold it in markets that could not support smartphones for another decade.
Nokia owned the best-seller lists for most of the 2000s. Apple has owned the smartphone era since roughly 2014. The concentration at the top that Counterpoint documents for 2025 is not new; Apple and Samsung have traded the top spots for fifteen years. What is unusual is how completely they have locked out everyone else from the model-level rankings.
The smartphone market shipped approximately 1.26 billion units in 2025, up 2% year-over-year per IDC. Apple led with 20% market share and 247.8 million units, a record high. Samsung followed at 19.1% with 241.2 million units. The next biggest players, Xiaomi and Oppo, each hold single-digit global share. Two companies control nearly 40% of the world’s smartphone market by volume, and seven of the ten best-selling individual models carry the Apple logo. That is the shape of the market in 2025.