The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the most popular phone in 2023 so far

The iPhone 14 Pro Max – Apple’s most expensive iPhone – was the most shipped phone in the first half of 2023 according to the Omdia Smartphone Model Market Tracer.

Coming in at second place was the iPhone 14 Pro.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max, which shipped 26.5 million units in the first two quarters of 2023, starts at $1,899 in Australia and the iPhone 14 Pro, which shipped 21 million units in the same period, starts at $1,749.

Rounding out the top three was the iPhone 14 with 16.5 million units shipped, which starts at $1,399.

Last year in the same period, the iPhone 13 was the top-selling model with 33.7 million units followed by the iPhone 13 Pro Max with 23 million units.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max sold 3.5 million more units than its predecessor while the iPhone 14 sold 17.2 million units less than the iPhone 13 in same period.

The iPhone 13 was the fourth most shipped smartphone in the first half of 2023 with 15.5 million units.

Overall the global smartphone market has shrunk.

This has been attributed to economic recession and the huge growth of the used smartphone market.

But despite this, the premium smartphone market still appears to be quite healthy.

Apple’s success comes as its premium models are in higher demand in emerging markets.

Five iPhones were in the top 10 with the iPhone 11 coming in art number 10 with a respectable 6.9 million units.

Positions five to nine on the list were all Samsung products – Galaxy A14 (12.4 million units), Galaxy S23 Ultra (9.6 million), Galaxy A14 5G (9 million), Galaxy A54 5G (8.8 million), Galaxy A34 5G (7.1 million).

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, priced from $1,949 in Australia, retained the same sixth ranking as last year when it sold 9.8 million units.

“The slump in the mid- to low-end market is expected to continue into the second half of this year, and the increasing portion of the premium market is expected to continue in the second half of this year with the launch of the new iPhone 15 series,” says Jusy Hong, Senior Research Manager at Omdia.

“Therefore, shipments of Android based smartphone OEMs, which have a high portion of mid to low-priced smartphones, will inevitably see another round of negative growth this year.

“On the other hand, Apple’s shipments of Pro and Pro Max will increase due to solid demand for premium models, but overall iPhone shipments this year will be similar to last year or decrease slightly due to weak demand for standard and plus models.”