The Best Selling Smartphones Of 2021 Include A Surprising Entry

Apple may still be the world's second-largest smartphone maker behind Samsung, but when it comes to selling individual smartphone models in huge numbers, it seems no one can come close. According to Counterpoint Research's recently released Global Monthly Handset Model Sales Tracker, seven of the top 10 smartphones sold in 2021 were manufactured by the same company, and were from the same smartphone brand family. As it's been of and on over the past decade, the iPhone tops the list – and here, Apple's phone family effectively dominates the market.

Counterpoint Research

These ten smartphones alone accounted for more than 19 percent of the total global smartphone sales in 2021, and only one Samsung smartphone made it to the list. Xiaomi was the only other manufacturer to make it to this list with two smartphones from its mid-range lineup.

Samsung is reported to have sold more than 272 million smartphones in 2021, which is quite a bit more than Apple's tally of 237 million units. However, Samsung's sales numbers are spread across a wide range of models, as opposed to Apple's more concentrated lineup. Besides, Apple only adds a small number of new products to its store every year — quite unlike quite a few players in the Android segment.

Topping the list of most sold smartphones in 2021 is the Apple iPhone 12, which has a healthy lead over the next most popular device — the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Coming at number three is the Apple iPhone 13 — a commendable feat given that the phone only launched in September 2021 and only had three months to get into the top three slots. Rest assured, we will most likely see the iPhone 13 top this same list for 2022. The mid-tier iPhone model from 2020 — the iPhone 12 Pro came in at the fourth position.

The sheer popularity of iPhones could be judged from the fact that the iPhone 11 — which was launched in September 2019, was the world's fifth most sold smartphone of the entire year of 2021!

Breaking Apple's streak is an unexpected entrant from Samsung — the Galaxy A12. As you might have already guessed, this smartphone is an entry-level device from the company and only made it to the list because it sold in massive numbers because of its extreme affordability. The Galaxy A12 is a hugely popular smartphone in markets North America, Latin America, and Western Europe.

Two entrants from Xiaomi sub-brand Redmi take up the seventh and tenth positions with two Redmi 9 series devices — the Redmi 9A and Redmi 9, respectively. These two phones were extremely popular in markets like India, China, and the rest of Asia, where there is a massive demand for budget handsets with competitive specs.

The two remaining handsets in the list also happen to be Apple products, with the iPhone SE 2020 taking the eighth position and the iPhone 13 Pro Max coming in at number nine.