Age of Smartphones Global
The median age of smartphones falls in the 25-36 month bucket in 2023 Q2. When we looked at the trends of age of smartphones back in 2017, the average age of a smartphone was 2.57 years, or 30 months. So the trend of age of smartphones seems to be holding steady.
Likewise, this 25-36 month bucket is the largest, with 23.6% of smartphone usage.
The last two buckets, 49-60 months, and 60+ months account for more than 22% of the usage.
Android Vs. iOS
iPhone adoption/retention differs from Androids in interesting ways. Some iPhone users are early-adopters, opting for the newest iPhone more than Android users. For example, in the 0-12 month bucket, iPhones are at 14.7%, more than double Android.
On the other end of the chart, some iPhone users also hang on to their smartphones to the bitter end. In the 60+ months bucket, iPhones represent 12%. This is also higher than 8.7% of Android in the 60+ months bucket. This large size of iPhones in 60+ months may also indicate the strong secondary market for iPhones. Many premium smartphones, like iPhones, find their way from the USA and Europe to secondary markets in Asia, thus extending their life.
Older Smartphones
In the 49-60 months bucket, iPhone XR is the top smartphone. Samsung and Huawei also have several devices in this group of older devices.
The oldest group, 60+ months, is dominated by older iPhones. iPhone 8Plus is the most popular with 0.83%. The Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime is the only non-Apple device that appears here.
