iPhone will be the second most popular smartphone in 2022: this is the top 5

Apple phones have been among the most popular smartphones in the world for years. But the iPhone is currently not the best-selling smartphone, according to research. One brand has a larger market share: Apple’s eternal rival Samsung.

Most popular smartphone of 2022

Research by Bankless Times shows that Samsung and Apple will continue to be the most popular smartphone manufacturers in 2022. South Korean tech giant Samsung sold an estimated 73 million phones in the first quarter of 2022. Apple follows at a reasonable distance, with 56 million iPhones sold.

This means that the giants hold 23.4 percent and 18 percent of the smartphone market respectively. According to the report, Apple sold 2.2 percent more iPhones than in the same period last year. Those are good numbers – especially when you consider that the global smartphone market declined 8.9 percent in the first quarter of 2022. The other major smartphone brands showed no growth.

The Chinese brands Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo round out the top five. Xiaomi sold 39.9 million phones in the first quarter of this year; accounting for nearly 13 percent of worldwide shipments. Oppo’s market share was 8.7 percent, with 27.4 million phones sold. Vivo produced 25.3 million devices, accounting for 8.1 percent of the market.

Apple leads in premium phones

That Apple is so high in the list is impressive, because the Cupertino giant competes with brands that sell a wider range of smartphones. Most of these are considerably cheaper. This also applies to Samsung, which according to Bankless Times owes its leading position mainly to the low and middle class models.

Previous research by Counterpoint Research showed that Apple is the leader in premium smartphones in the first quarter of 2022. The iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max together accounted for more than two-thirds of sales in the premium price segment.