8 of the Top 10 Best-Selling Phones Last Year Were iPhones

Apple’s march towards world domination continues apace with the results from an annual survey of smartphone sales. Market analysis firm Counterpoint Research has compiled its list of the top 10 best-selling phones of 2022. The list is almost all iPhones, marking the first time Apple has taken 8 of the top 10 listings. Samsung took the other two, and these 10 phones alone accounted for 19% of global smartphone sales.

The report by Counterpoint via Techspot looks at global phone sales, and there’s one clear blockbuster product: the iPhone 13. Not only was it the best-selling phone of the year, but it held that title from when it was launched in September 2021 until August 2022, right before the iPhone 14 was announced. That one model was responsible for 28% of all iPhone sales. Once the iPhone 14 was available, Apple cut the iPhone 13’s price, driving even more sales in developing markets. The iPhone 13 was eventually dethroned by the iPhone 14 Pro Max. That flagship handset was the top seller for the following two months before it was taken out by the iPhone 14.

The surging sales of the iPhone 14 Pro Max were also a phenomenon. It marks the first time a Max model had outsold the Pro and standard models. That helped it become the third most-selling phone of the year. People were happy with the notch being transformed into a Dynamic Island. The second-highest volume phone was the equally large and expensive iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Samsung had two phones on the list, and both were budget-friendly models. Those are the A03 and the A13, the only non-5G phones on the list. Both phones sold well in specific markets such as India, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Latin America. Overall the A13 was the fourth highest-selling phone, with the A03 taking the 10th spot with 1.1% of the overall market.

Looking back, it’s possible Apple saw such strong sales of the iPhone 14 Pro max as proof people wanted bigger phones. That might have caused it to replace the Mini with the iPhone 14 Plus. However, that gamble never paid off, and that model is unsurprisingly not on the list. It’s expected that for the iPhone 15, Apple will keep it in its lineup and continue to put more distance between its products, so they don’t cannibalize each other. Apple only included the latest A16 Bionic in its Pro phones this year, giving the regular phones last year’s A15 SoC. For the iPhone 15, Apple is expected to take this further by giving its Pro models even more exclusive features.

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