A smartphone is the most popular gift to receive during the Christmas period. With the last quarter of each year being when the most smartphones are sold due to it being Black Friday and Christmas. This fact has bee the same for the last 25 years, so let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at which phones were the most popular each December. We will also provide some overviews from the beginning of each milestone year plus some additional fun facts about some mobiles! Let’s get into it.

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For the first part of the 2000’s especially, Nokia mobiles had completely taken over the phone industry. In fact, it wasn’t until 2012 that the Nokia phone completely fizzled out. These mobiles were especially popular because of there robust build quality, and the fact they were quite small which made them very easy to store in a trouser pocket or bag.

• 2000 – Nokia 3310
• 2001 – Nokia 8250 – regarded one of Nokia’s most iconic and successful mobile phones in history.
• 2002 – Nokia 6100
• 2003 – Nokia 1100

In 2004, the flip phone and sliding phones began to grow in popularity. It was a way for mobile designers to explore with a phones design but still keep the button aspect and screen feature. A lot of the sliding mobiles actually got screen updates, they were much bigger and easier to read. They became a cultural icon especially in the 90’s and this came back for the mid 2000’s.

• 2004 – Motorola RAZR V3
• 2005 – Nokia 1110
• 2006 – Samsung E250 – was Samsungs first phone to reach 20 million sales in 2008.

The very first Apple iPhone released in 2007, which was an immediate breakthrough for mobile phones as we know them. This phone only had 1 button that offered multiple features, and a screen that was touchscreen which provided more features. The iPhone also introduced the concept of apps to the mobile phone.

• 2007 – Apple iPhone
• 2008 – HTC Dream
• 2009 – Apple iPhone 3G – sold over 1 million units in 1 weekend.
• 2010 – Samsung Galaxy S

As the early 2010’s progressed, smartphones became huge and the next craze. All big brands were following Apple like Samsung who created their iconic S Series. The smartphone screens got bigger and more advanced overtime, their display quality got better too.

• 2011 – Apple iPhone 4 – sold 4 million units in 3 days.
• 2012 – Samsung Galaxy S III
• 2013 – Apple iPhone 5S
• 2014 – Apple iPhone 6 – has the second highest number of users amongst all models worldwide.
• 2015 – Samsung Galaxy S6
• 2016 – Apple iPhone 7
• 2017 – Apple iPhone 7 – one of the only phones to perform just as well the second year running.

With the smartphone being a clear fan favourite, developers needed a way to make this concept bigger and better. So, after the arrival of the iPhone X, companies began removing that one button and having a completely button-less smartphone. This is a concept almost all smartphone brands have followed and is still proving to be extremely loved by tech users.

• 2018 – Huawei Mate 20 – Exceeded 200 million Huawei shipments in 2018.
• 2019 – iPhone XR
• 2020 – iPhone 11

Entering the beginning of the 2020’s, 5G began to grow in popularity, with many phones being advertised as 5G smartphones. As well as this, AI (Artificial Intelligence) began to grow in popularity.

• 2021 – Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
• 2022 - Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G – 4.5 million units bought in the first 3 months
• 2023 – Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max
• 2024 – Apple iPhone 16 – first Apple phone to include artificial intelligence

Conclusion:

Thinking of getting yourself or someone else a smartphone for Christmas? We have plenty of options waiting. And with our Black Friday options, you can save up to £100 on our smartphone options. Take a look now!

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