Apple’s iPhone 6 (almost) biggest selling handset since 2000

Apple sold almost as many iPhone 6/6+ smartphones as the biggest-selling mobile handset ever made, the Nokia 1100, according to new research.

Nokia 1100 takes the crown, but has it held?

The iPhone, introduced in 2014, set the bar as Apple’s most successful smartphone shifting 222.4 million units while it was on sale. It was replaced one year later by the headphone port-free iPhone 7, and Apple later transitioned to the X-series of devices we know and love today.

But the biggest selling handset this century is the Nokia 1100. Introduced in 2003 it sold a total of 250 million units during the five years it was made available, making it the most popular handset sold in the last 22 years.

But has it remained so?

We don’t know for sure, and may never know, given Apple no longer publishes iPhone sales data. What we think we know right now is that the iPhone 13 has managed to sell in numbers that may rival those of the iPhone 6.

What we don’t know is how many it has sold so far – has it beaten its historical rival?

Has Apple’s iPhone 13 become this Century’s biggest-selling device?

Know your audience

What’s interesting about this is how it shows the success Nokia enjoyed when it understood the needs of the mobile device at the turn of the Century, and how this later pivoted with the introduction of the smartphone, an industry Apple pretty much defined.

BlackBerry doesn’t make the mix, but it must be remembered this was always sold as a business class device that, while popular, sold in smaller numbers.

The research comprises data from the year 2000 to arrive at these claims and shows that the mobile industry is very much a two-horse race between Apple and Samsung. Apple’s other biggest sellers include iPhones 5C/5S, 5 and X.

[Also read: Apple’s iPhone 6 is accident prone, but Android is 20% old]

The top ten phones this century are

Interestingly, Nokia boasts two of the most sought-after phones of the century, with the classic 3310 released in the year 2000 ranking in third place. Famous for having the Snake II mobile game, the Nokia 3310 has sold 136 million units since its release year. The Motorola Razr V3, which came out in 2004 and bucked the trend of the ‘brick-like’ style of handsets with its slim and sleek flip phone design, notably ranks fourth with 130 million sales.

The Nokia 1100 sold a total of 250 million units across five years

Kyle Wilson, mobile expert at Mobiles.co.uk said: “While there is no doubt the likes of the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy are the top of wish lists today; the popularity of these Nokia handsets cannot be understated. With almost one in five mobile phone owners having an 1100 or 3310 in the respective years they were released, this is an impressive feat matched by no one in 2021.”

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.