Source: Phone Arena
The iPhone was launched in January 2007. Back then, Apple sold 1.39 million iPhones worldwide, resulting in a revenue of $640 million.
Since then, Apple has sold 2.32 billion iPhones worldwide. In the third quarter of 2023, 39.67 billion of Apple’s revenue came from iPhones.
iOS competes with inexpensive alternatives daily and still emerges second in worldwide sales. A look at iPhone user statistics for 2023 can help us understand why it’s their number-one choice for smartphones.
You can use these statistics to determine how to market to iPhone users who are far more secure from cookie collections with default browsers like Safari.
iPhone Usage Statistics 2023-2024
Source: Statista
83% of iPhone buyers in 2023 already owned an iPhone. This speaks to a high retention rate for iPhones, with 85%, 86%, and 87%, buying a new iPhone in 2022, 2021, and 2020 respectively – despite already having one.
The number one reason an iPhone user might switch to Android isn’t affordability, but 29% do believe Android is more packed at its price point.
As such, iPhone contributes to 38.5% of Apple’s revenue. In 2022 alone, Apple sold 232 million iPhones. The sales remained equally strong in the first quarter of 2023, when Apple sold 97.7 million iPhones.
The iPhone sales in 2023 started strong with 55.2 million sold in the first quarter, while 42.5 million was sold in the second quarter.
In fact, Apple’s total revenue in the first two quarters of 2023 was $211.99 billion. $117.11 billion came from its iPhone sales, from both older and newer models.
- iPhone 14 Pro Max is the most shipped smartphone of 2023 at 26.5 million.
- 50% of iPhones are expected to be assembled in India by 2027.
- Apple sold 1 million iPhones in India in the first quarter of 2022.
- China and India are the fastest-increasing iPhone markets, where the iPhone isn’t predominant.
In the US, Apple has a brand awareness of 92%. Even in countries where iPhone isn’t the most used smartphone, Apple’s brand awareness remains strong.
A study by Graphic Springs proves 100% of Millenials worldwide recognize the Apple logo and, thereby, the iPhone. In fact, Apple is the 4th most recognized brand in the world.
So, what are the apps the users of this brand prefer?
Most Downloaded App on iPhone
Source: App Topia
Google is the most downloaded app on the iPhone as of June 2023. The app was downloaded 6.36 million times in a single month in 2023. Next in line was CapCut, which generated 6.16 million downloads.
ICOCA, ChatGPT, and TikTok make up the other top 5, in the exact order.
This was the total opposite of 2022 when the most downloaded app was TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Capcut, in this specific order.
TikTok, in particular, generated 672 million downloads in 2022. Instagram was downloaded 548 million times, and Facebook 449 million times. Users downloaded Whatsapp 424 million times, and CapCut generated 357 million downloads.
This could indicate a change in consumer attitude. Up until 2022, people were still dealing with COVID restrictions and working more heavily from home. People no longer have the time to scroll social media, instead focusing on work they consider more productive.
Even Amazon Shopping has been booted out of the top 10, indicating lots of people have stopped buying unnecessary things. Though, this could be due to the financial crisis prevalent in 2023.
The increase in ICOCA downloads is also a good indication of the change in attitude. ICOCA is a popular payment app in Japan for train journeys, convenience stores, and selected restaurants. It’s hinting at a population going out more because of work or because they can.
ChatGPt has been the new craze worldwide, especially with people using it to compose emails and other tedious tasks. It was given it would be a popular app on both iPhone and Android phones.
CapCut remains popular in both years. The video editing app is free and preferred, particularly because of its lack of advertisement among its robust features. However, the use of CapCut shows people experimenting with mobile video editing, which could mean they are posting on Instagram and TikTok still.
In US, specifically, TikTok remains the most downloaded app even in 2023. It had 99 million downloads in 2022.
You would expect CapCut to be one of the most downloaded apps in the US in 2022, apps like CashApp, Subway Surfers, and Roblox received more downloads for the year. It was 64 million, 51.4 million, and 50.9 million for each.
The games are the perfect place to target your audience with ads. Although Apple users can turn off personalized ads, it’s harder to reach them.
Honor of Kings is a game which generated the most revenue on iPhone. However, targeting it with ads may not be fruitful. Clearly, the users are willing to pay for the game to get an ad-free experience.
TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook remain the best way to reach out to iPhone users on social media. If you want to mix it up, you can try WhatsApp, which had 63 million downloads on the iPhone.
How many people have iPhones?
Source: Statcounter
There are 29.58% iPhone users in the world as of September 2023. If the total number of smartphone users in the world is 5.22 billion, this means there are 1.54 billion users in the world.
iPhone Users By Gender 2023-2024
According to Statista, 51% of iPhone users are female, while 41% of iPhone users are male. However, when it comes to the preference of male and female users between the models, more male users prefer the latest, expensive, and upgraded iPhone.
41% of male buyers in 2022 have an iPhone 13 or 14 Pro or Max model. Comparatively, 33% of female buyers purchased an iPhone 13 or iPhone 14. Especially with the iPhone 14 series, 12% of female users brought an iPhone 14 or Plus, while 8% of male users opted for the iPhone 14 Pro or Max.
While the gap between gender choices isn’t huge, it may have something to do with each user’s reason for buying the model. Women could be interested in buying the regular model simply because of the size of the phone. Smaller iPhones fit easier into pockets, especially if you are in gym clothes.
Another thing to consider is the income disparity between men and women. Despite wanting the more updated model, women prefer saving up for other things.
iPhone Users By Age 2023-2024
Source: CIRP
Age is another factor which affects people’s iPhone buying habits. 27% of iPhone users in the world are in the 25 to 34 year age range. 23% are 35 to 44 years old. The third biggest market for iPhone users are in the 18 to 24 year range.
Meanwhile, people aged 55 to 65 use iPhones less than people over 65, making up 10% and 8% of the age group, respectively.
Apple has always promoted its products as fit for the younger generation. However, being young does not equal income – quite the opposite. It’s partly why people in the 24 to 44 year age range are the more prominent iPhone users. It’s the age group with a more settled career.
Those above 44 year old can afford iPhone and other Apple devices more than their younger counterparts. But this is also the age group unlikely to care about the latest tech.
In fact, there is a possibility a good percentage of iPhones sold in this age range were gifts for their children or grandchildren, who could be anywhere from 13 to 20 years old.
According to a Piper Sandler survey, 87% of US teenagers own an iPhone. Since their purchases can’t be directly tracked, we can make an educated guess on the age range of buying them for teenagers.
iPhone Users By Country 2023-2024
Source: Statcounter
iOS users account for 56.44% of total phone operating system in the US. 135.97 million users in the US own an iPhone in 2023. This is a 13.3% upgrade from 2022 when 120 million iPhone users were accounted for.
To put it into perspective, the US has 310 million smartphone users. This means 43.8% of smartphone users in the US have an Apple iPhone.
iPhone is undoubtedly the most popular smartphone device in the US. In general, 50% of American consumers own an Apple device.
We see something similar in the UK, Canada, and all of North America, with an iOS share of 51.38%, 58.51%, and 53.92%, respectively. Australia, Norway, Sweden, and Japan are some of the other platforms, with an iOS share of 60.9%, 63.46%, 54.54%, and 69.39%.
This indicates this is the percentage of users in each country who own an iPhone.
In the first quarter of 2023, Apple shipped the most iPhones to the US, UK, China, Japan, and India. As always, 55% of the US and 46% of Japan purchased an iPhone, marking these countries as the ones with the highest penetration rate in 2023.
India is the biggest surprise entry in 2023, as the total overall iPhone users in India are about 3.94%. The total Apple market share in India isn’t more than 5.1% either. However, India had a 6.1% increase in shipments from 2022, which is encouraging.
The projected iPhone units sold in India in 2023 are 9 million. The response has been so positive Apple plans on manufacturing 25% of iPhones in India by 2025.
The second quarter of 2023 was even more surprising in iPhone sales. China accounted for 24% of iPhone shipments, while the USA, the most popular iPhone market in the world, contributed to 21% of total shipments.
Similar to India, iPhone penetration inside China isn’t more than 24.98%. China has its own huge productions like Huwaei, OnePlus, Oppo, and Xiaomi, which are also popular in Indian markets.
In fact, despite having such a positive upward trajectory at the start of the year, iPhone sales in China have dipped due to an uptick in Huwaei sales. iPhone 15, in particular, saw a 4.5% dip in sales compared to last year.
However, iPhone sales continue to rise in more parts of the world where Android has always ruled the market. Between March 2022 to March 2023, 15% of Android users switched to an iPhone.
iPhone has even started to give tough competition in a country like South Korea, where 71.48% are smartphone users, with a strong preference towards Samsung.
As of 2023, the iOS market share in South Korea is 28.21%. This is a 13% rise in iPhone users from 2022.
60% of the younger generation, particularly the ones aged 18 to 29, prefer iPhone over Samsung or any other phone brand. This preference is more matching to the status quo for smartphone users aged 30 to 39, where 56% prefer Samsung, but 41% prefer iPhone.
However, anyone over the age of 40 prefers Samsung by a distance of 70 to 80%.
In all these countries, the rise in iPhone users is primarily because of two reasons. One is the user experience, which 47% of former iPhone users claim their main reason is for switching brands.
The other is the supposed status related to owning an iPhone, which a lot of younger generations in countries like China and South Korea show an obsession with. The same is happening in countries like India, where the metropolitan population feels the need to make a statement.
Data does indicate iPhone users have 40% more income than Android users. The average iPhone user earns $85,000 per year, while Android phone users earn $60,000 per year on average. People might be trying to make up for this difference in salary and perceived status by owning Apple devices.
How many iPhones are sold per year?
Source: Statista
225.3 million iPhones were sold in 2022. In the first two quarters of 2023, Apple sold 97.7 million iPhones. According to current projections, Apple may sell 217 million iPhone units by the time 2023 ends.
This number is the same as many iPhones sold in 2018, which was 217.72 million. Apple sold a similar number of iPhones in 2017 and 2016 at 216.76 million and 211.88 million, respectively.
2015 was one of the biggest years for iPhone, with 231.22 million sales. 2020 and 2021 were also solid sales years, with 206.10 million and 233.90 million units sold.
2019, however, was the lowest sales year since 2015, with 190.60 million sold. Considering it was the start of COVID-19 and when chip shortage started due to manufacturers having to close down, this doesn’t indicate any decline in Apple’s popularity.
Final Thoughts
One of the top reasons people buy iPhone is its promise of security. As a result, getting their data is tougher than achieving those from Android users. However, if you by behavior, iPhone users clearly prefer premium products and the best of the best.
They are a group you can incentivize to buy something if the ROI is high. Additionally, most of your target market is iPhone users in North America, Eastern Europe, and Australia.
But if you want to reach out to a growing iPhone audience, China and India would be your best bet. It’s not a market you can ignore, whether it is for premium products or for thrift items.
FAQs
1. Are there more iPhone users or Android users?
Globally, there are more Android users than iPhone users. Even the most popular Android model in the world- Samsung- has 3 billion fewer users than the iPhone.
Android is an open-source operating system any developer can customize. The iOS for iPhone is patented and restricted to Apple devices. As a result, Android phones are available at all price points, some even more expensive than iPhones. However, iPhone users prefer the brand due to its user experience and premium offerings.
2. What percentage of users have an iPhone?
29.58% of smartphone users have an iPhone. While global numbers are low due to its steep competition with various Android devices, over 50% of the people in the US use an iPhone.
3. What is the most sold iPhone model in 2023?
iPhone Pro Max is predicted to be the most sold iPhone model in 2023, contributing to 40% of iPhone sales this year. This is 10% more than the total sales of iPhone Pro Max.