Apple's iPhone XR Was Most Popular Smartphone in 2019 Based on Shipment Estimates - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple's iPhone XR Was Most Popular Smartphone in 2019 Based on Shipment Estimates

The iPhone XR was the world's most popular smartphone in 2019, with Apple outshipping all other smartphone models, according to new data shared today by research firm Omdia.

iphone xr colors splash
Apple shipped an estimated 46.3 million iPhone XR units in 2019, which is more than double the 23.1 million units shipped in 2018. iPhone XR shipments were also nine million units higher than the second most popular model, which was Apple's iPhone 11. Apple shipped an estimated 37.3 million iPhone 11 models.

omdiashipmentestimates
After the iPhone XR and iPhone 11, the Galaxy A10 was the third most popular smartphone, with Samsung shipping 30.3 million units. The Samsung A50, Samsung A20, and iPhone 11 Pro Max came in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

"Apple has consistently owned the first and second positions in the global smartphone model shipment ranking, with the company maintaining this dominant position for more than five years running," said Jusy Hong, smartphone research and analysis director at Omdia. "The company's continued dominance on this front is all the more remarkable when considering that Apple's price hikes caused overall iPhone shipments to decline last year. By limiting the number of models it offers compared to its top competitors, Apple has been able to concentrate its sales on a few smartphones that have broad appeal, like the iPhone XR."

Apple has continued selling the iPhone XR alongside the iPhone 11 and the iPhone 11 Pro as a lower cost option, priced starting at $599. The iPhone XR is $100 cheaper than the $699 starting price point of the iPhone 11.

Omdia is a research firm that was established following the merger of the research division of Informa Tech and the IHS Markit technology research portfolio.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple's Next Era Begins September 1

Thursday May 7, 2026 10:36 am PDT by
Apple recently announced that Tim Cook will be stepping down as CEO later this year, after 15 years of leading the company. Effective September 1, Apple's hardware engineering chief John Ternus will become the company's next CEO, while Cook will become executive chairman of Apple's board of directors. In his new role, Apple said Cook will assist with "certain aspects" of the company,...
Instagram Feature 2

PSA: Instagram Encrypted Messaging Ends on Friday, May 8

Tuesday May 5, 2026 8:24 am PDT by
Instagram will remove end-to-end encryption for direct messages between users from May 8, 2026. When the date comes around, Meta will potentially be able to see the contents of all messages between users on the social media platform. Encrypting messages has been an optional feature in Instagram since 2023, but in March of this year the social media platform quietly updated a help page to say ...
Apple Event Logo

Apple Just Released a New Accessory

Monday May 4, 2026 8:13 am PDT by
Apple today released a new Pride Edition Sport Loop for the Apple Watch. The band features a rainbow design with 11 colors of woven nylon yarns. The new Pride Edition Sport Loop is available to order now on Apple.com and in the Apple Store app in 40mm, 42mm, and 46mm sizes, and it will be available at Apple Store locations starting later this week. In the U.S., the band costs $49. There...

Top Rated Comments

NickName99 Avatar
81 months ago
I like how the XR is #1, and the iPhone 11 is #2. Both have the 6.1” display that so many nerds were complaining wasn’t 1080p or OLED.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Scrip Avatar
81 months ago
I'm not surprised by Apple's performance on this list.

Apple is the #3 smartphone OEM in the world by sales... so they obviously sell a lot of phones in general. Plus they only sell a handful of individual models... and it makes sense that their affordable iPhone XR had the top spot.

But what is a surprise is that not a single "flagship" Samsung phone is on that list.

For all the advertising Samsung does... and all the hullabaloo about cameras, OLED displays, reverse wireless charging, tiny bezels, etc... it's their budget models that sell the most.

A phone had to sell at least 15.2 million units to even be on this list.

So that means no Galaxy S10 model sold 15.2 million units throughout the entire year. That's wild.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
81 months ago
Remember the time when some bozos thought the XR wouldn’t sell?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DakotaGuy Avatar
81 months ago
I’m just glad that this data proves we can finally move on from all the “everyone wants the old tiny screens back” chatter around this place. When the best selling phone has a 6.1” display it’s time to leave the 3.5” and 4” screens in the past.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago

I’m just glad that this data proves we can finally move on from all the “everyone wants the old tiny screens back” chatter around this place. When the best selling phone has a 6.1” display it’s time to leave the 3.5” and 4” screens in the past.
I’m also glad this data proves we can finally move on from people wanting to buy a neon orange iPhone. I mean, they don’t sell a neon orange iPhone, but they don’t sell a modern smaller-screened iPhone either, so why not just make wild assumptions about that too? /s
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
81 months ago

I’m just glad that this data proves we can finally move on from all the “everyone wants the old tiny screens” chatter around this place. When the best selling phone has a 6.1” display it’s time to leave the 3.5” and 4” screens in the past.
Nobody wants an “old tiny” screen. There are people, however, who want a smaller phone.
Especially since its now possible to fit a ”new larger” screen on a phone the size of the “old pocketable“ phones. Think different. For everyone else...there’s Samesung.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)