The best-selling mobile phones in history: there is not a single Android in the top 20 of the ranking

There are few mobile phone who managed to enter the selected group of best sellers around the world over the last 20 years. They are not the ones that bring together the best of the latest technologies in processors, cameras and even artificial intelligence; But those who marked the era were the more rudimentary and productiveeven from brands that today are relegated behind Apple or Samsung, according to a study by the agency Visual capitalist.

More than 50 years have passed since the first call with that giant DynaTACalthough the industry explosion would not occur until the late 1990s and even early 2000s, when Nokia dominated and the smartphone era was not even noticed, with phones so simple that They could only make calls and send short messages with limited characters.

These peculiar mobile devices, rare nowadays, are now called feature of the phone. Basically, a basic phone that only has the fundamental functionsfor example, making calls or sending and receiving messages.

But far from any kind of underestimation, none of today’s powerful smartphones have managed to outsell the emblematic equipment sold by the Finnish Nokia in the years 2000-2005.

The 20 best-selling cell phones in history

It’s curious to see how Nokia is at the forefront: three of its flagship devices are among the five and ten positions among the 20 best-selling mobile phones in all of history. Both records might surprise younger people, because this legendary brand fell into disgrace after its mistakes The Symbian operating system will be restored by HMD Global.

Samsung and Motorola appear in the list with one device each, from position 11 to SamsungE1100 and the 17th Motorola RAZR V3 with “tapita” which brought so much success to the brand. Almost twenty years after its launch, this model is back on sale with the particularity of having flexible screen.

Another surprising fact about this ranking is this Android doesn’t existand obviously the diversity of options in the catalog available on the Google platform means that the sales figures are diluted without a single smartphone managing to sell too many units.

THE Samsung Galaxy S23 They sold more than ever in the flagship Android series, and yet They didn’t even reach 40 million units. In major markets like China or India they sell relatively little compared to other options.

As for the numbers, the truth is that the data is overwhelming. In the early 2000s, when the democratization of these devices was beginning, Nokia’s most basic series managed to sell no less than 250 million Nokia 1100 and 248 million of the Nokia 1110 model. Almost 500 million mobile phones cost about 100 dollars.

Historically, always iPhone They also sold very well, especially the more evolutionary series compared to previous generations such as the Iphone6 (large screens) or iPhoneX (all screen sizes with notch).