The iPhone 6s may be an old warhorse, but that hasn't stopped the smartphone from becoming consumers' most favored handset.
According to a report from IHS Markit, the Apple smartphone has emerged the best-selling handset for 2016.
"In terms of shipments, the iPhone 6s from Apple bested all competitors for sales in 2016, according to new analysis from IHS Markit," noted the report.
The report based its findings on the research from the IHS Markit Smartphone Shipment Database. This database keeps track of quarterly shipments for over 350 smartphone models.
On the basis of shipments, the iPhone 6s routed even sibling iPhone 7 in sales and took home the top honors.
The Q4 2016 figures, however, tell a different story as in this period, the iPhone 7 was the world's best-selling smartphone, followed by the iPhone 7 Plus.
Why The iPhone 6s Routed Rivals
IHS Markit did not divulge the shipment estimates for 2016, but the chart reflects that the iPhone 6s accounted for 60 million shipments.
According to analysts, the iPhone 6s performed better than its contemporaries largely due its top-end features and specs.
"The iPhone 6s is wildly popular in dozens of countries globally, due to its attractive hardware design blended with rich features such as 4K video, large multi-touch display, and fingerprint security," said Neil Mawston executive director at Strategy Analytics.
How Did Apple Fare?
The top four spots in the list of the most sold smartphones in 2016 went to Apple courtesy of its iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone 6s Plus. This means that Apple easily managed to rout rival Samsung, which made it to the top 5 thanks to its Galaxy S7 edge.
How Did Samsung Perform?
Samsung's Galaxy S7 edge was not the only handset from the company to make it to the list. The company's Galaxy S7 was the ninth best in the rankings. While Samsung may have been outpaced by Apple, a silver lining for the company is that the two smartphones performed better than their predecessors Galaxy S6 edge and Galaxy S6.
The gross and combined shipment of the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge was 10 million higher than that of its predecessors in the same period.
Samsung shipped roughly 25 million units each of the 2016 models of the Galaxy J3, Galaxy J5, Galaxy J7, and Galaxy S7.
What About Other OEMs?
The Oppo A53 also made it to the list of the best-selling smartphones for 2016. It was ranked seventh and was the only non-Samsung or non-Apple device in the list. However, Huawei, which is the third biggest smartphone maker in the world, did not make it to the list.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns | Flickr
