Apple was by far the most popular smartphone brand last year, with eight of its iPhone models in a list of 10 best-selling smartphones.
That’s according to CounterPoint Research’s Global Monthly Handset Model Sales Tracker, which ranks Apple as the first brand to take that many spots in the top 10. The other two spots are taken by Samsung.
According to the report, Apple’s iPhone 13 was the best-selling smartphone of 2022, contributing 28% of iPhone sales and reaching the status of best-selling smartphone in major markets such as China, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the United States. United States.
Counterpoint’s data suggests that the iPhone 13 remained the number one smartphone each month from its launch in September 2021 to August 2022, with price cuts following the launch of the iPhone 14 further boosting sales of the iPhone 13 in emerging markets.
Compared to the iPhone 13 Pro Max, the second best-selling smartphone of 2022, iPhone 13 models were sold twice as much, underlining the device’s wide popularity in all markets. Regarding the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the report notes that:
For the first time ever, a Pro Max variant of an iPhone series generated more volume than its Pro and base models in 2022. It helped the iPhone 14 Pro Max take the third spot in the 2022 list. It was the best-selling smartphone model for September, October and November 2022. Sales of the iPhone 14 Pro Max were led by early adopters and those who moved to a higher iPhone variant.
Elsewhere, strong sales in the US, Japan and China propelled the iPhone 12 – the best-selling smartphone of 2021 – to take sixth place above the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, despite being the oldest Apple handset in the list . The iPhone SE (2022), meanwhile, took the 10th spot, with strong sales in Japan boosting it.
Finally, Samsung’s two spots on the list include the entry-level Galaxy A13 as the fourth best-selling smartphone, and the Galaxy A03, which rounded out the top 10. That is one more place on the list than the Korean company achieved last year .
“We believe the share of the top 10 smartphones will increase in 2023 as brands focus on cleaning inventory and optimizing their launches,” said Counterpoint analysts Harshit Rastogi and Karn Chauhan. “We also expect brands to continue to slim down their portfolios in 2023 to minimize cannibalization. The number of active smartphone models in the global market has already dropped from over 4,200 in 2021 to around 3,600 in 2022.”
In 2023, Apple will continue to sell the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 alongside the iPhone 14 series and the third generation iPhone SE, underlining the continued popularity of its older models among new and returning customers.