Apple's iPhone 13 lineup led global smartphone revenues to a new high of $448 billion in 2021, Counterpoint reports.
Smartphone revenues grew seven percent year-on-year and 12 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2021, despite difficulties caused by component shortages. Apple's iPhone revenue is believed to have increased 35 percent year-on-year to $196 billion in 2021, its highest ever quarterly revenue. This enabled it to capture 44 percent of total global smartphone revenue that year.
As well as leading global revenues to the new high, the success of the iPhone 13 lineup pushed up the average selling price of smartphones by 12 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021. This was also aided by the proliferation of 5G-enabled devices, which made up more than 40 percent of global smartphone shipments in 2021, compared to just 18 percent in 2020.
The average selling price of iPhones also increased by 14 percent due to demand for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, reaching $825. Apple also bolstered its market share with gains in key emerging markets, including India, Thailand, Vietnam and Brazil.
The top five smartphone brands contributed more than 85 percent of the total smartphone revenue. Samsung's smartphone revenue increased by 11 percent year-on-year, while Xiaomi and Oppo increased by 49 percent and 47 percent respectively. Amid rapid expansion, both Xiaomi and Oppo recently set out plans to directly challenge Apple on a global scale in the premium smartphone segment.
Friday December 12, 2025 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Macworld's Filipe Espósito today revealed a handful of features that Apple is allegedly planning for iOS 26.4, iOS 27, and even iOS 28.
The report said the features are referenced within the code for a leaked internal build of iOS 26 that is not meant to be seen by the public. However, it appears that Espósito and/or his sources managed to gain access to it, providing us with a sneak peek...
Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code.
In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by Juli Clover
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak.
As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
The first foldable iPhone will feature a series of design and hardware firsts for Apple, according to details shared by the Weibo leaker known as Digital Chat Station.
According to a new post, via machine translation, Apple is developing what the leaker describes as a "wide foldable" device, a term used to refer to a horizontally oriented, book-style foldable with a large internal display....
Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas.
We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features.
Transfer to Android
Apple is making it simpler...
Friday December 12, 2025 10:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 26.2, the second major update to the iOS 26 operating system that came out in September, iOS 26.2 comes a little over a month after iOS 26.1 launched. iOS 26.2 is compatible with the iPhone 11 series and later, as well as the second-generation iPhone SE.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones over-the-air by going to Settings >...
Thursday December 11, 2025 8:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple seeded the second iOS 26.2 Release Candidate to developers earlier this week, meaning the update will be released to the general public very soon.
Apple confirmed iOS 26.2 would be released in December, but it did not provide a specific date. We expect the update to be released by early next week.
iOS 26.2 includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, such as a new...
Monday December 15, 2025 7:41 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple released the AirPods Max on December 15, 2020, meaning the over-ear headphones launched five years ago today. While the AirPods Max were updated with a USB-C port and new color options last year, followed by support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio this year, the headphones lack some of the features that have been introduced for newer generations of the regular AirPods and the ...
Good - although the iPhone 13 lineup wasn't all that in terms of excitement it is, most importantly, a solid phone in my experience. Easily a phone that's going to last many years.
Good - although the iPhone 13 lineup wasn't all that in terms of excitement it is, most importantly, a solid phone in my experience. Easily a phone that's going to last many years.
Yep, it was the iPhone 12 that, in returning to the iPhone 4-esque design, created the excitement. The iPhone 13 is merely an iteration.
