Contrary to popular notion, it’s not Samsung’s flagship-grade smartphones that make it to the list of most sold smartphones. Instead of the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S23 series and the company’s Galaxy Z Foldable series, you will see Samsung’s sales figures being boosted by the company’s lower priced A-series offerings.
The most popular Android smartphone in 2023 was the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, a handset that sold in massive numbers in the U.S. and India. It was the eighth-most popular smartphone overall and also India’s best-selling smartphone for 2023.
The 10th most popular smartphone in the world was also a variant of the Galaxy A14, albeit its LTE-only cousin called the Samsung Galaxy A14 4G. Completing this list of top 10 most popular phones is another entry-level Samsung — the Samsung Galaxy A04e — which made it to the ninth spot in the list of the most popular smartphones worldwide.
Nevertheless, the domination of Apple’s iPhone and the absence of Android flagships in the top 10 raises concerns about the platform’s appeal to premium consumers. It’s likely that the only reason Samsung’s lower-priced smartphones made it to the list was because of sheer affordability.
These numbers also highlight the massive issues that Samsung and the rest of the Android ecosystem have in appealing to the premium smartphone buyer. Unless the Android ecosystem undergoes a thorough shake-up in the coming years, perhaps these sales trends may not reverse any time soon.
