What is the best selling phone of all time?
The Nokia 1100 is the best selling phone ever made. Released in 2003, it sold about 250 million units before it was discontinued in 2009 [1][2]. Its successor, the Nokia 1110 from 2005, sold almost as many. Neither was a smartphone: they were cheap bar phones (the 1100 even had a built-in torch), built for the millions of people in developing countries buying their first phone [1].
Visual Capitalist ranked the 15 best selling mobile phones up to 2023 using Yahoo Finance and Omdia data [1]. Nokia and Apple have seven models each in that top 15 and Samsung one, the E1100. The table below shows the ranking, with Wikipedia’s figures alongside, because for several iPhones the two sources disagree a lot [2].
The 15 best selling mobile phones
| Rank | Phone | Released | Units sold (Visual Capitalist) | Wikipedia figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nokia 1100 | 2003 | 250 million | 250 million |
| 2 | Nokia 1110 | 2005 | 248 million | 250 million |
| 3 | iPhone 6 / 6 Plus | 2014 | 222 million | 222.4 million |
| 4 | Nokia 105 | 2013, 2015 | 200 million | 200 million |
| 5 | iPhone 6s / 6s Plus | 2015 | 174 million | 174.5 million |
| 6 | iPhone 5s | 2013 | 165 million | 52 million |
| 7 | Nokia 3210 | 1999 | 161 million | 160 million |
| 8 | iPhone 7 / 7 Plus | 2016 | 160 million | 78.3 million |
| 9 | iPhone 11 / 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max | 2019 | 159 million | about 150 million |
| 10 | iPhone XR / XS / XS Max | 2018 | 151 million | about 125 million |
| 11= | Nokia 6600 | 2003 | 150 million | 150 million |
| 11= | Nokia 1200 | 2007 | 150 million | 150 million |
| 11= | Nokia 5230 | 2009 | 150 million | 150 million |
| 11= | Samsung E1100 | – | 150 million | not listed |
| 15 | iPhone 5 | 2012 | 146 million | 70 million |
Phone makers rarely publish lifetime sales for a single model, so every list like this relies on analyst estimates. The Nokia figures agree closely across sources; the iPhone 5, 5s and 7 figures do not, so treat their exact places as approximate.
Why Nokia dominates the all-time list
Nokia’s place at the top comes from timing and price. Its one billionth phone, sold in Nigeria in 2005, was a Nokia 1100 [3]. In the 2000s mobile phones spread from rich countries to the rest of the world, and the cheapest reliable phone sold in enormous numbers. Visual Capitalist notes that the 1100 and 1110 were inexpensive phones made for a growing customer base in developing countries [1]. The basic Nokia 105 carried the same idea into the 2010s and is the fourth best seller [2].
Older Nokias such as the 3210 (1999) and the 6600 (2003), a Symbian smartphone with a camera and music player [4], reached their totals in a market with far fewer competitors [2]. Nokia had 27 models on Wikipedia’s list of 115 best selling phones [2].
What is the best selling smartphone of all time?
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, released in September 2014, are the best selling smartphones and the best selling touchscreen phones, with over 222 million units between them [2]. Visual Capitalist credits their larger 4.7 and 5.5 inch screens with starting the era of big-screen smartphones, and says the iPhone 6 sold so well that Apple relaunched it in India and China in 2017 [1].
Apple has the six best selling touchscreen phones on Wikipedia’s list [2]. It sells far fewer models than its rivals, so each one sells in huge numbers. Samsung sells more phones overall but spreads its sales across dozens of models; it has 37 models on Wikipedia’s list, more than any other maker, and its best selling Android phone there is the Galaxy S4, at about 80 million [2].
Other record-breaking phones
- Best selling flip phone: the Motorola Razr V3 (2004), with over 130 million sold [2].
- Best selling slider phone: the Samsung E250 (2006), with over 30 million [2].
- Nokia 3310 (2000): the famously indestructible phone sold 126 million, just outside the top 15 [2].
- Motorola StarTAC (1996): an early clamshell phone that sold 60 million [2].
Across all makes, about 28.9 billion mobile phones were shipped worldwide between 1992 and 2022 [2].
Why no new phones make the top 15
Every phone in Visual Capitalist’s top 15 has been discontinued, and no model released after 2021 had reached the list by 2023 [1]. That is partly because recent phones haven’t been on sale long, and partly because the market has changed. Most people now upgrade a phone they already have rather than buying their first, phones last longer, and each year’s sales are split between more models and more brands, especially Chinese makers such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
Questions about the best selling phones
What is the most sold phone in history?
The Nokia 1100, with about 250 million sold between 2003 and 2009 [1][2].
What is the best selling iPhone of all time?
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, with over 222 million sold [2].
What is the best selling Samsung phone?
Visual Capitalist puts the Samsung E1100, a basic phone, at 150 million [1]. Among Samsung smartphones, Wikipedia lists the Galaxy S4 at about 80 million [2].
What is the best selling flip phone ever?
The Motorola Razr V3, with over 130 million units [2].
Is the Nokia 3310 the best selling phone?
No. It sold 126 million, a lot, but fewer than the Nokia 1100, 1110, 105, 3210 and several others [2].
Sources
- Visual Capitalist, The Best Selling Mobile Phones of All Time, 28 April 2024, the original article for this infographic (data: Yahoo Finance, Omdia).
- Wikipedia, List of best-selling mobile phones.
- Wikipedia, Nokia 1100.
- Wikipedia, Nokia 6600.
Last reviewed 2 November 2026
