The ten best-selling touchscreen smartphones, ranked by the estimated lifetime unit sales compiled in Wikipedia's list of best-selling mobile phones.
By Wikipedia's compiled estimates, the Apple iPhone 6 / 6 Plus is the best-selling touchscreen smartphone at 222.4 million units, ahead of the Apple iPhone 6S / 6S Plus (173.8 million) and Apple iPhone 5S (163.7 million). Apple never published per-model sales, so every figure is a third-party estimate (list accessed October 2026).
Apple and Samsung account for every phone on this list, and Apple holds the top nine places. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, released in 2014, have the highest estimated lifetime sales of any touchscreen smartphone. Treat the figures as estimates. Apple has only ever reported total iPhone units, never sales by model, and stopped reporting units altogether after its 2018 fiscal year. The numbers below come from one compilation, Wikipedia's List of best-selling mobile phones, which draws on press reports and analyst estimates. That article is itself tagged as disputed, and the analyst figures mix shipments and sales.
Released in September 2014, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were Apple's first phones with screens larger than 4 inches. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the pair at 222.4 million units, the highest figure for any smartphone on that list. Apple never published per-model sales, so this is a third-party estimate.
The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus (September 2015) kept the iPhone 6 design but added 3D Touch, the A9 chip and a 12-megapixel camera with 4K video. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the pair at 173.8 million units, an estimate assembled from analyst reports.
The iPhone 5S (September 2013) introduced Touch ID and the A7, the first 64-bit chip in a smartphone. Wikipedia's compiled list puts it at 163.7 million units, citing a 2017 TheStreet estimate.
The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus (September 2016) dropped the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the 7 Plus added a dual-lens camera. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the pair at 156.7 million units, an estimate assembled from analyst reports.
The iPhone 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max (September 2019) added Night mode and the A13 Bionic chip. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the series at 156 million units, an analyst-based estimate made after Apple stopped reporting iPhone unit sales.
The iPhone XR, XS and XS Max (2018) shared the A12 Bionic chip and Face ID; the XR used an LCD and launched at $749. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the three at 150.7 million units, an analyst-based estimate.
The iPhone 5 (September 2012) brought a 4-inch display and replaced the 30-pin dock connector with Lightning. Wikipedia's compiled list puts it at 143.4 million units, citing a 2017 TheStreet estimate.
The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus (September 2017) added a glass back with wireless charging and the A11 Bionic chip. Wikipedia's compiled list puts the pair at 121.7 million units, an estimate assembled from analyst reports.
The iPhone 12 family (October 2020) was Apple's first 5G iPhone line. The figure here is a floor, not a lifetime total: Wikipedia cites a June 2021 report that the series had passed 100 million units, and no later lifetime figure appears on that list.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 (April 2013) had a 5-inch Full HD Super AMOLED display and a 13-megapixel camera. Wikipedia's compiled list puts it at 80 million units, citing a 2017 Korean press report, the highest figure there for any non-Apple touchscreen smartphone whose entry is not marked disputed.
| # | Name | Manufacturer | Release year | Screen size | OS | Figure basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple iPhone 6 / 6 Plus | Apple | 2014 | 4.7" / 5.5" | iOS 8 | Third-party estimate (TheStreet, 2017, as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 2 | Apple iPhone 6S / 6S Plus | Apple | 2015 | 4.7" / 5.5" | iOS 9 | Third-party estimate compiled from analyst reports (as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 3 | Apple iPhone 5S | Apple | 2013 | 4.0" | iOS 7 | Third-party estimate (TheStreet, 2017, as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 4 | Apple iPhone 7 / 7 Plus | Apple | 2016 | 4.7" / 5.5" | iOS 10 | Third-party estimate compiled from analyst reports (as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 5 | Apple iPhone 11 Series | Apple | 2019 | 6.1" / 5.8" / 6.5" | iOS 13 | Third-party estimate compiled from analyst reports (as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 6 | Apple iPhone XR / XS / XS Max | Apple | 2018 | 6.1" / 5.8" / 6.5" | iOS 12 | Third-party estimate (9to5Mac, 2020, as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 7 | Apple iPhone 5 | Apple | 2012 | 4.0" | iOS 6 | Third-party estimate (TheStreet, 2017, as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 8 | Apple iPhone 8 / 8 Plus | Apple | 2017 | 4.7" / 5.5" | iOS 11 | Third-party estimate compiled from analyst reports (as cited by Wikipedia) |
| 9 | Apple iPhone 12 Series | Apple | 2020 | 5.4" / 6.1" / 6.7" | iOS 14 | Floor: 100 million milestone reported June 2021 (MacRumors, as cited by Wikipedia); lifetime total higher |
| 10 | Samsung Galaxy S4 | Samsung | 2013 | 5.0" | Android 4.2 Jelly Bean | Third-party estimate (Maeil Business, 2017, as cited by Wikipedia) |
Single source: Wikipedia's 'List of best-selling mobile phones' (accessed 18 October 2026). We take every row the article marks as a smartphone with a touchscreen (slate) form factor and rank by the article's unit figure, in millions. Keypad smartphones are excluded. Two Nokia smartphones the article lists at 150 million, the 6600 (keypad, 2003) and the 5230 (touchscreen, 2009), are left out because the article marks both figures as disputed; if the 5230 were counted it would rank 7th. No figure on this list was published by a manufacturer for a single model. Apple reported only total iPhone units, and stopped after fiscal 2018. So every value is a third-party estimate, and the cited estimates do not all use the same basis (shipments versus sales to end users). The iPhone 12 figure is a 100-million milestone reported in June 2021, not a lifetime total. The Wikipedia article as a whole carries a 'disputed' banner (June 2025). Rank 1 is the highest figure.
By the estimates compiled on Wikipedia's list of best-selling mobile phones, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (2014) lead with 222.4 million units. Apple never published per-model sales, so this is a third-party estimate.
Apple sells a small number of models each year, so its sales are concentrated in a few devices. Samsung sells many more models, which spreads its volume across many devices.
No. The Nokia 1100 is a feature phone. Wikipedia's list puts the 1100 and the Nokia 1110 at about 250 million units each, the highest figures for any mobile phone, but neither is a smartphone.
Wikipedia's list puts the touchscreen Nokia 5230 at 150 million units, but marks that figure as disputed. We leave out disputed figures. If it were counted, it would rank 7th.
More like this: all Technology rankings · browse every topic