According to latest research from our Emerging Device Strategies (EDS) service, global feature phone shipments reached 396 million units in 2016. Samsung was the world’s number one feature phone vendor with 13 percent marketshare last year, followed by Nokia in second place with 9 percent share.

Global feature phone shipments reached 396 million units in full-year 2016, accounting for 21 percent of all 1.88 billion mobile phones shipped last year. Feature phones today still account for 1 in 5 of all mobile phones bought worldwide and the category is surprisingly larger than many think.

Samsung shipped a sizeable 52.3 million feature phones worldwide and captured 13 percent marketshare in 2016. Samsung is the world’s largest feature phone vendor, with a deep retail presence and a wide range of enduringly popular models such as the Xcover 550. Nokia, run today by HMD Global, shipped 35.3 million feature phones for 9 percent marketshare worldwide in 2016. Nokia has struggled in smartphones, but it maintains a very good reputation for delivering user-friendly feature phones at competitive prices, such as the Nokia 230 Dual SIM. TCL-Alcatel held third place with 7 percent feature phone marketshare globally in 2016. TCL-Alcatel has been losing ground in smartphones, but its feature phones remain in demand among price-sensitive consumers in Latin America and elsewhere.

Hundreds of millions of feature phones continue to be sold in emerging markets such as Africa and India. Consumers like the low prices and simple usability of feature phones. However, profit margins for feature phone manufacturers tend to be fairly small, and companies like Nokia or Samsung will have to maintain high volumes and tight cost control if they want to sustain profitability in the future.

Exhibit 1: Global Feature Phone Vendor Shipments and Marketshare in 2016  [1]

Our full report, Global Handset Vendor Market Share by Region in 2016, is published here.