I know you were all wondering what the best smartphones of 2013 would be. Well, the good news is that smartphones in general actually did really well in 2013. We’ll take a look at smartphones this year, how they changed, and which ones were successful on a global level.

Start with the iPhone

We have to start with the iPhone, considering the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5, and iPhone 5c were all in the top 10 selling smartphones this year (number 1, 2, and 4 spots). Though criticized for its transition to a “cheap” version of the phone, customers still bought the phone and proved Apple was making the right move. The biggest change Apple saw was more than just a faster phone: the thumb-print password was a huge hit, though only found on the 5s.

Down to Samsung

The number 3 spot went to the Samsung Galaxy S4, where customers were able to get something stable and problem-free from Samsung. Samsung also took spots 5, 6, 7, and 9 with the Galaxy Note III, the Galaxy S III, the Galaxy S4 Mini, and the Galaxy S III Mini. It seems customers were more than happy to purchase the “cheap” and small versions of Galaxy phones this year because of all their capabilities. Doing multiple things at once, viewing things in a clear screen, and more. If Apple takes the number one spot with just one phone, Samsung made it with a lot of different phones.

That leads us to Android

Android is selling quite a bit, and on a company-wide basis, may be much more successful than Nokia. Still, the individual phones did not do as well on a global level. Android is known as a company and not by the specific phones developed. With new updates always being released on its operating system, including the new Android Kit Kat operating system announcement from the year, customers know they are always getting something new and improved with their purchases. If we were looking at cell phone manufacturers instead of individual phones of 2013, Android would do much better with the numbers.

Windows Phone

Surprisingly, the Windows Phone is growing significantly in popularity. Though not a lot of them are sold on a global level to compete with Samsung and Apple, the phone popularity has grown over 100 percent in the last year. Sales are booming, and it seems the Windows Phone might even be new competition facing the big ones, like Android, Samsung and iPhone.

Nokia on the list too

One of the phone manufacturer on the list was Nokia, as it got spots 8 and 10 with the 105 and Nokia 501, both of which are feature phones and not smartphones, according to CNET. Though technically behind Android in total sales, individual phones at Nokia did surprisingly well globally in the last year.

As you can see, there were a lot of great phones released this year, and manufacturers did really well improving and changing things. Apple still took the lead on most things, though 2014 might not be the same. In 2014, new curved phones and inventions will com about from other phone manufacturers, possibly bringing a new company to the top. Anything can happen with the new year.

Source:

CNET