The best-selling mobile phone of all time is not an iPhone

Mobile phones, especially smartphones, have long been an integral part of daily life. Nearly two decades after the original iPhone, these devices enable more than just calls. They connect us to the world, entertain us and can even contribute to productivity. Cell phones have come a long way, although those stupid phones from the 2000s are some of the retro gadgets making a comeback.

As the brand behind the smartphone, you might assume that one of Apple’s iPhone models would be the best-selling mobile phone of all time, but that’s actually not the case. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are the best-selling smartphones with 224 million units, with their long-awaited larger screens contributing to their popularity. However, in terms of overall cell phone sales, these models come third.

The top two places both belong to Nokia phones, namely the Nokia 1100 (250 million) and the Nokia 1110 (248 million). This may come as a surprise, but there are some pretty simple reasons for Nokia’s dominance here, and they explain why the record is unlikely to be surpassed any time soon.

The Nokia 1100 and Nokia 1110 were released in 2003 and 2005 respectively, a time when the mobile phone market was very different. There was certainly competition from Blackberry, Sony and Motorola, but the 1100 and 1110 had one key advantage: price. The Nokia 1100 sold for around $100, and the 1110 sold for just $78, much more affordable than the Motorola Razr V3, which sold for $449.

At a time when camera phones were gaining popularity in the United States, the affordability of the Nokia 1100 and 1110 made these phones perfect for emerging markets like India, where the 1110 was still sold until at least 2007. These older phones were still common in Africa well after the iPhone’s release, with 50 million Nokia 1100s in use across the continent in 2011.

Even though there are more and more cell phones available today, there are also more cell phone options than ever before. As of April 2026, Apple and Samsung have a fairly equal global market share, around 21% each. Outside of the US, there is also competition from Xiaomi and Huawei, meaning there is currently no dominant player. Additionally, people are holding on to their smartphones for longer than before. It is therefore unlikely that the Nokia 1100 and Nokia 1110 records will be broken in the near future.