News: Viewpoint
ASHLEIGH ALLSOPP
Top 10 best-selling mobile phones Samsung, LG, Sony and Apple may rule the mobile market, but this wasn’t always the case few days ago, the team here at PC Advisor were discussing their first mobile phones and some of their favourites from the early days of mobile technology. That got me wondering: what are the best-selling mobiles of all time? What I found was surprising, with Nokia absolutely dominating the best selling mobile phones of all time. It’ll be interesting to see in five years’ time how many of the phones listed here will still be in the top 10, and which will be replaced by newer phones. With such a fastpaced market, it’s tricky to believe that any modern phone will sell as well as those old favourites, as their shelf-life is significantly shorter than it used to be now that we all want the latest features on our smartphones. Anyway, without further ado, here are the top 10 best selling mobile phones ever.
2. Nokia 1110
1. Nokia 1100
The Nokia 5230 sold around 150 million units, too. This one hit the market in 2009, and is the first in our list to sport a colour touchscreen. It also had a 2Mp rear camera.
After that short departure from Nokia, we’re back with the company for the 1600, which is thought to have sold around 130 million units. Launched in 2006, its success was down to its tiny price tag.
6. Nokia 6600
10. Nokia 3310
Another mobile phone to sell an estimated 150 million units is the Nokia 6600, a strangely round device released in 2003. It was aimed at business users, and was
The final mobile phone in our top 10 is from Nokia yet again. The successor to the 3210, the 3310 launched in 2000 and sold approximately 126 million units. J
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The best-selling mobile phone ever is believed to be the Nokia 1100 (above left). Released in 2003, over 250 million units were sold. That’s more than any iPhone model. The success of the Nokia 1100 wasn’t down to its features – it didn’t have a camera or even a colour display – but it was cheap, durable and did the jobs any mobile phone should.
The successor to the Nokia 1100, the 1110 (above right), is also thought to have sold around 250 million units. Launched in 2005, it came with three built-in games and the ability to send picture messages.
3. Nokia 3210 Before the Nokia 1100 and 1110 came the hugely popular Nokia 3210, which I personally remember owning and loving; swapping out the case for whatever new craze I was into that week. It was released in 1999, and sold an estimated 160 million units in total.
4. Nokia 1200 Nokia was also behind the next-best selling phone, the 2007 Nokia 1200, which sold an estimated 150 million units.
5. Nokia 5230
advanced for its time, boasting a camera, music player, video player, Bluetooth and a memory card slot to add more storage.
7. Nokia 2600 Yep, Nokia again, this time with its 2600 from 2004. Around 135 million units were sold, and it was one of the first from Nokia to feature a colour display.
8. Motorola RAZR V3 Finally, we’ve got a non-Nokia mobile phone to add to the list This one comes from Motorola. Yep, you’ve guessed it, it’s that hugely popular RAZR V3 flip phone that the company launched in 2004, selling 130 million units. It holds the title of the world’s most popular clamshell phone.
9. Nokia 1600
16 www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news December 2014
016 Ashleigh Allsopp 233.indd 16
02/10/2014 09:34