Publication date: 13 Jul 2021

Over the past 5 years, Russians have begun to consume almost 6 times more mobile Internet. According to the report “Beeline.Analytics”, since the beginning of 2016 the total growth of mobile Internet consumption was more than 545%. Moreover, men began to use it almost 454% more, while women – by 660%. Most of all over the past five years the mobile Internet is used for streaming, web surfing and mobile games. At the same time, young people under 25 became 2,478% more likely to use the Internet from a mobile device, people aged 25 to 45 – by 494%, from 45 to 65 – by 455%, and those who are over 65, download from mobile devices by 784% more information than in 2016. In Moscow, traffic has increased by 768%, residents of central Russia began using more mobile Internet by 561%, in the northwest of the country – by 458% more, in the east – by 667%, and in the south – by 427%.

• Mobile consumption has grown not only in Russia, but around the world. According to the latest Sensor Tower report, in the first half of 2021, global user spending on mobile apps totaled a record $64.9 billion.

What are the most popular smartphones in Russia?

MTS Big Data analysts compiled a ranking of the most popular smartphones based on anonymous data about what devices were registered in the telecom operator’s network in cities with over a million people from 2008 to 2021. In 2008, 11 of the 12 most popular smartphones belonged to Nokia, in 2012 their number dropped to four, and in 2014, for the first time there were no devices of the Finnish company in the ranking. In 2009, the iPhone 3G was first on the list of popular smartphones, and two years later the iPhone 4 took first place among MTS subscribers in major cities. Apple smartphones held the lead for eight years, and only in 2020 they lost the first place to the budget mass model Honor 10 Lite. In 2015 and 2016, five iPhone models of different generations topped the rating. In 2011, the first Samsung Galaxy on Android began to enjoy popularity, and in 2013 they were included in the list of the most popular smartphones in Russia. In 2018, people began to buy Xiaomi and Honor smartphones more often. And in 2021, the most popular models included three Apple devices, Samsung and Honor each, and four Xiaomi.