The value of US mobile phone imports rose by an average 9.3% from 2017 when America’s mobile phone purchases from international suppliers were valued at $56.4 billion.
Year over year, the value of mobile phones imported into the United States accelerated by 24.7% compared to $49.5 billion during 2020.
In comparison, the US exported $12.6 billion worth of mobile phones in 2021–about one-fifth (20.5%) of America’s spending on imports for that same commodity.
For research purposes, the 6-digit Harmonized Tariff System code prefix is 851712 for phones of wireless networks.
US Imported Mobile Phone Purchases
Below are the 15 countries that supplied American importers with the highest dollar value worth of cellphones during 2021.
- China: US$48.8 billion (79.2% of US imported mobile phones)
- Vietnam: $9.9 billion (16.1%)
- South Korea: $2.1 billion (3.3%)
- India: $305.6 million (0.5%)
- Japan: $161.5 million (0.3%)
- Hong Kong: $113 million (0.2%)
- Taiwan: $33.5 million (0.1%)
- Thailand: $31.9 million (0.1%)
- Indonesia: $29.7 million (0.0%)
- Malaysia: $23.7 million (0.04%)
- Spain: $16.6 million (0.03%)
- Italy: $12.7 million (0.02%)
- Chile: $11.8 million (0.02%)
- Canada: $10.1 million (0.02%)
- Singapore: $9.7 million (0.02%)
The listed 15 countries shipped 99.9% of total US cellphone imports in 2021. America’s three leading mobile phone suppliers are a triad of Asian powerhouses China, Vietnam and South Korea while collectively accounted for 98.7% of US spending on imported portable phones.
Among the above countries, the fastest-growing suppliers exporting mobile phone to US importers since 2017 were: India (up 4,039%), Chile (up 1,062%), Indonesia (up 803.6%), Italy (up 177.5%), Singapore (up 151.3%), then Vietnam (up 128.6%).
Three top suppliers experienced declines in their export sales of cellphones to the US over the 5-year period namely Taiwan (down -95.4%), Malaysia (down -89.2%), and South Korea (down -63.1%).
Global Companies Providing US Mobile Phone Imports
The following technology firms are leading mobile phone makers. The list showcases some of the leading imported mobile phone brands available for purchase by the United States of America.
- Acer (Taiwan)
- Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG – Germany)
- Blackberry (Canada)
- HTC (Taiwan)
- Huawei (China)
- Kyocera Communications (Japan)
- Lenovo Group (Hong Kong)
- LG Electronics (South Korea)
- Microsoft Mobile (formerly Nokia, Finland)
- Samsung Electronics (South Korea)
- Xiaomi Tech (China)
- ZTE (China)
See also Cellphone Exports by Country, Computer Accessories Exports by Country and American Global Technology Companies
Research Sources:
BrandsMart USA list of available mobile phone brands. Accessed on September 16, 2022
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 16, 2022
Gartner Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q15 (August 2015), Table 1. Accessed on October 6, 2015
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 16, 2022
Trade Map, International Trade Centre. Accessed on September 16, 2022
