Daniel Slotta
Research expert covering Greater China
Smartphone market in Hong Kong - statistics & facts
In the digital era, almost everyone uses a smartphone to stay online. Hong Kong has one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in Asia. Almost 90 percent of people over ten years old in Hong Kong owned a smartphone, roughly translating to seven million people owning a smartphone. With several major telecommunications service providers active in the market for years, the smartphone and telecommunications markets in Hong Kong are very mature.
The share of households in Hong Kong which were connected to the internet at home via a smartphone exceeded 99 percent as of March 2020, indicating an extremely heavy reliance on smartphones for internet access. Moreover, smartphone penetration rate reached over 99 percent among consumers who obtained post-secondary education, and the penetration rate was higher among women at a younger age than their male counterparts and the lowest among older population in the society.
Leading smartphone brands
Hong Kong’s immediate neighbor, mainland China, had a smartphone market that was dominated by domestic smartphone manufacturers like Honor, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, with a total market share for all four of over 60 percent. However, the smartphone market in Hong Kong is more internationally oriented, with Apple and Samsung being the market leaders with a combined market share of around 75 percent at the end of 2022. In particular, the Apple iPhone has been the absolute favorite device among Hong Kong residents; it managed to keep the leading position in the market in the last few years with over 40 percent of market share.Telecommunication technology
In terms of technology, most of the mobile internet connections in Hong Kong were already utilizing 4G services as of 2022, with around 90 percent of mobile internet connections using at least 4G technology. This figure translated to around 21 million mobile 4G subscribers in total. The city is also upgraded to 5G. In 2019, the government of Hong Kong has announced that a 5G service will be launched in 2020 and has already achieved significant coverage.The share of households in Hong Kong which were connected to the internet at home via a smartphone exceeded 99 percent as of March 2020, indicating an extremely heavy reliance on smartphones for internet access. Moreover, smartphone penetration rate reached over 99 percent among consumers who obtained post-secondary education, and the penetration rate was higher among women at a younger age than their male counterparts and the lowest among older population in the society.
