Ever since the first phone was made available to the public, we have seen companies take up the mobile phone market and flourish in it. Before the smartphone, we had dumbphones that preceded feature phones. Despite the impressive sales that we see smartphone companies such as Apple and Samsung report in their financials, the real winners have always been dumb phones from back in the day that sold in the hundreds of millions.
This list simply highlights phones that were sold around the world and still hold the record for being the top 10 most sold devices to date, we have a few surprises, for example, the Nokia 3310 is missing in action but Nokia still dominates the list with quite a number of phones from back in the day and while Apple has one device on the list, the Android camp hits the bench on this one:
10. Motorola Razr V3
A device that probably only a few Kenyans got to play around with, the Moto Razr V3 was a phone with looks that demanded attention. One of its best features was the metallic feeling keyboard and the dual display that it packed. Motorola sold over 135 million units of the Razr V3.
9. Nokia 2600
Keeping true to the Nokia standards of those days, the 2600 was a simple device that attracted many thanks to its price tag. I cannot say much about it since I never personally got to interact with it. Nokia sold over 135 million units of the Nokia 2600 across the world.
8. Samsung E1100
This one passed me by but I remember a few people rocking it. This Samsung dumb phone featured a flashlight a standard display by standards of those days and 1MB of internal storage. The device hit over 150 million units, thanks to its worldwide availability.
7. Nokia 5230
This one holds a special place in my heart. I loved my Nokia 5230. At that time it was a classy phone with a 3.2-inch display, Symbian OS, a camera and 3G connectivity. The device hit over 150 million units across the world.
6. Nokia 6600
Do you remember this one? Honestly, I don’t. But it seems quite a number of people loved it since over 150 million units were sold despite its expensive price tag of 695 dollars back in 2003, an equivalent of $947 by today’s standards.
5. Nokia 1200
The fourth Nokia device on the list was a basic dumbphone that seemed to spark a lot of interest among people. The Nokia 1200 garnered over 150 million sales across the world and it’s not rare to find a few people still rocking this device, especially in the rural areas.
4. Nokia 3210
The phone that preceded the 3310 got over 150 million sales since it was released back in 1999. At that time, the biggest feature the 3210 had was Snake, the game that HMD Global is now using to push their refresh devices.
3. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
The second smartphone on the list and the only modern smartphone here is the iPhone 6. This was the first time that Apple had moved from their minute displays to bigger screens that people were demanding. Apple sold over 220 million units of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus combined.
2. Nokia 1110
I am certain you remember this one, you probably owned one of these. This one was a favourite of many, myself included. I did not own one but I certainly did have enough around me to enjoy what it had to offer. Nokia 1110 sold over 250 million units, better than any other device released the same year as it.
1. Nokia 1100
Another one that I am certain you remember is the Nokia 1100. The device was really curvy and had a good number of colour options to choose from. It did not pack anything interesting but it rose to the top of the peak thanks to its affordable price tag which saw Nokia sell over 250 million units.
