The top five phones in North America in 2019 were all iPhones, which is crazy

Throughout most of the world, Android phones are incredibly popular. In Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, India, and especially China, the best-selling phones of 2019 all include an Android phone at the top of the list.

However, according to Counterpoint Research, that’s not the case for North America. In the United States, Canada, and Mexico, the top-five best-selling phones of 2019 are all iPhones. Every. Single. One.

In descending order from most popular, the top-five best-selling phones in North America for 2019 are the iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 8, iPhone 11 Pro Max, and iPhone XS Max. Not even the mighty Samsung could crack the top-five this year.

To see just how crazy this is, check out the graphic below. It shows you the top-five best-selling phones in each of six areas: NAM (North America), Europe, China, LATAM (Latin America), MEA (the Middle East and Africa), and RoAPAC (the rest of Asia Pacific):

As you can see, Samsung dominates the lists in nearly every area of the world. HUAWEI, OPPO, realme, vivo, and even Motorola earn spots, too. However, it’s clear that, here in North America, consumers mostly align with just one brand.

The data suggests pricing is the biggest factor

Interestingly, the two iPhones that appear the most on the list of the best-selling phones of 2019 are Apple’s two cheapest phones: the iPhone XR and iPhone 11, which cost $599 and $699 respectively as of today. Only in North America does the incredibly expensive iPhone 11 Pro Max make the list (it starts at $1,099 as of today).

In fact, many of the best-selling phones of 2019 are inexpensive mid-rangers. Counterpoint’s data here strongly suggests that for a phone to do well globally, it needs to be priced low.

That should be some good news for the Android world. Judging from this data, Samsung’s Galaxy A series of phones is a runaway success. The fact that these phones are thriving is good news for consumers as it will likely mean more affordable handsets from the company. This will certainly make sticker-shocked consumers happy who might not want to fork out a minimum of $1,000 on the latest Samsung Galaxy S20 phones.