Smartphone Users Malaysia 2026: Ownership and Usage Data

2. Smartphone Users Malaysia 2026: Key Figures at a Glance

Quick Answer: DOSM’s 2025 survey found 98.2% of Malaysian households have a smartphone, 98.6% of people aged 15 and above own a mobile phone and 99.6% use one. Malaysia also had 44.0 million mobile connections at the end of 2025, or 122% of the population, because many people carry two SIM cards.

The household figures are from DOSM’s ICT Access by Households 2025 infographic, and the individual use figure is from the ICT Use and Access Survey Report 2025. Ownership comes from OpenDOSM’s mobile phone ownership dataset, and connections from DataReportal’s Digital 2026: Malaysia. Three notes help you read them:

• Owning is not the same as using. Use (99.6%) is higher than ownership (98.6%) because some people borrow or share a family phone.
• Connections are not people. 44.0 million connections exceed the population because of second SIMs and work lines. Our internet users in Malaysia report covers the people count.
• DOSM does not split smartphone owners by person. It reports smartphones at household level and mobile phones at individual level, so we show both.

3. How Many Smartphone Users Are There in Malaysia?

Quick Answer: DOSM does not publish a headcount of smartphone users in Malaysia. Using its data, we estimate about 26.7 million people aged 15 and above own a mobile phone. Household smartphone access rose to 98.2% in 2025, while feature phone access fell to 15.5%, so nearly every phone owner now has a smartphone at home.

The 2023 and 2024 values are from DOSM’s 2024 household infographic, and 2025 is from the 2025 infographic linked above. Because no official count of smartphone users in Malaysia exists, here is how we built our estimate:

1. Start with the adult base. DOSM’s Current Population Estimates 2026 put the population at 34.4 million, with 78.8% aged 15 and above. That is about 27.1 million people.
2. Apply the ownership rate. 98.6% of that group own a mobile phone, which gives about 26.7 million owners.
3. Read it as a floor, not a ceiling. The figure leaves out children under 15 and people outside private households, so the real number of phone users is a little higher.

4. Is Mobile Phone Ownership in Malaysia Still Growing?

Quick Answer: Barely. Mobile phone ownership among Malaysians aged 15 and above rose from 95.5% in 2017 to 98.6% in 2025. Most of that gain came between 2020 and 2022. Since 2022 the rate has moved by less than half a point a year, and the gap between men and women has almost closed.

The series is from the same OpenDOSM ownership dataset. Four patterns matter for marketers:

• The pandemic pushed the last holdouts. Ownership jumped 2.5 points between 2019 and 2022, when school, work and payments moved online.
• The gender gap has nearly gone. In 2019, 96.8% of men and 94.8% of women owned a phone. By 2025 it was 98.8% and 98.3%.
• Growth now means more use, not more owners. With ownership near its ceiling, the change shows up in data and speed, as our mobile data usage in Malaysia and 5G Malaysia statistics reports show.
• People are keeping their phones longer. PriceShop’s report on Omdia data puts first-half 2026 shipments at 3.92 million, down 22.7% from 5.07 million a year earlier, as prices rose. Expect more customers on older phones, so test your site on a two- or three-year-old model.

5. Which Devices Do Malaysians Use to Go Online?

Quick Answer: The mobile phone is the gateway. In 2025, 99.4% of Malaysian internet users aged 15 and above went online with a mobile phone, compared with 39.5% using a laptop and 27.4% a tablet. In rural areas the gap is wider: only 27.2% use a laptop, but 99.3% use a phone.

These figures are from OpenDOSM’s Internet Use by Type of Portable Device dataset. In 2019, the same dataset showed 35.6% using a laptop and 13.0% a tablet, so second screens have grown, but the phone stayed on top every year. What this means:

• Phone first, everywhere. Urban and rural phone use is almost identical, so a mobile-first site serves every region equally.
• Laptops are a city and office habit. Desktop and laptop browsing still matters for B2B and working hours, which is why StatCounter’s September 2026 page-view data shows desktop at 51.98% and mobile at 46.38%. Our mobile vs desktop traffic in Malaysia report explains the difference.
• Test on both phone platforms. StatCounter’s September 2026 mobile data splits Malaysian phone traffic 55.23% Android and 44.75% iOS. See our iPhone vs Android in Malaysia report.

6. Which States Have the Lowest Phone Ownership?

Quick Answer: Kelantan has the lowest mobile phone ownership in Malaysia at 96.8% of people aged 15 and above in 2025, followed by Sabah (97.0%), Perlis and Sarawak (both 97.1%). Kuala Lumpur leads at 99.9%. Even in the lowest states, only about three in every hundred adults do not own a phone.

The state rates come from the OpenDOSM ownership dataset. Three practical points stand out:

• The gaps cluster in the north-east and Borneo. Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak also trail on internet access, as our internet access by state data shows.
• Owning a phone is not the same as a good signal. Sabah lags on speed too, so check our internet speed data for Malaysia before you plan heavy video for East Malaysia.
• Women lag slightly in some states. In Kedah and Perlis, female ownership trails male ownership by about 1.5 to 2 points.

7. What Do Malaysians Do on Their Smartphones?

Quick Answer: Since almost all internet use happens on phones, DOSM’s activity data shows what smartphone users in Malaysia do most. In 2025, 99.7% of internet users used social networks, 94.8% downloaded or streamed media, 94.6% searched for goods and services and 89.5% made voice or video calls online.

DOSM does not split online activities by device. But with 99.4% of internet users going online by phone, the activity list is a good guide to daily phone use. The figures are from DOSM’s Use of ICT Equipment and Services 2025 infographic:

Three of these habits deserve their own planning:

• Chat is the new phone call. Online calls and messaging are now everyday habits. Our WhatsApp users in Malaysia report shows why a WhatsApp button belongs on every page.
• The phone is the wallet. Payments now run through apps, as our e-wallet usage in Malaysia and Buy Now Pay Later Malaysia statistics show. Offer those options at checkout.
• Search starts on the phone. With 94.6% researching goods online, ranking matters. Our search engine market share in Malaysia report shows where those searches happen.

8. What This Means for Your Marketing

Quick Answer: With about 98% of Malaysians owning a phone, your website and ads must work on a small screen first. Design for one-thumb use, keep pages fast, make chat and payment easy, plan for both iPhone and Android, adjust for low-signal states and measure results by device.

Here is the six-step plan we use with clients now that smartphone users in Malaysia make up almost the whole market:

1. Design for the phone first. Start every layout at phone width, with large tap targets and short forms. Check your site against our mobile-friendly website checklist.
2. Make it fast on 4G, not just 5G. Many visitors are indoors or outside cities. Our guide to fixing a site that loads slowly on mobile covers the quick wins.
3. Put chat and call buttons in reach. A sticky WhatsApp or call button suits how Malaysians already contact businesses, and it helps your mobile conversion rate.
4. Test on Android and iPhone. The split is close, so check forms, payment pages and fonts on both before launch.
5. Lighten pages for low-ownership states. For customers in Kelantan, Sabah and Sarawak, cut heavy video on landing pages and keep a phone number visible.
6. Measure by device. Split Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta Ads reports by mobile and desktop, then fix the device that converts worst.

Our web design team handles steps one to five as standard on every build. For the bigger picture on design that sells, see our guide to web design in Malaysia.

9. Conclusion

Quick Answer: Smartphone users in Malaysia now include almost every adult. Households with a smartphone reached 98.2% in 2025, mobile phone ownership hit 98.6% and 99.4% of internet users go online by phone. Growth has flattened, so the advantage now goes to businesses with the best phone experience.

Put simply, the smartphone users Malaysia data shows an audience that is complete, lives on the phone and is not getting much bigger. Every competitor can reach the same 26.7 million or so phone owners. Your edge comes from a site that loads fast, reads easily on a small screen and makes contact one tap away.

If your current website was built for desktop first, our web design services can rebuild it for the way Malaysians actually browse.

10. Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many smartphone users are there in Malaysia in 2026?

No official headcount exists. Using DOSM data, we estimate about 26.7 million people aged 15 and above own a mobile phone, based on a 98.6% ownership rate and about 27.1 million people in that age group. Since 98.2% of households have a smartphone, almost all of these owners use smartphones.

2. What percentage of Malaysians own a smartphone?

DOSM’s 2025 survey found 98.2% of households have a smartphone and 98.6% of people aged 15 and above own a mobile phone. DOSM reports smartphones at household level only, so there is no separate individual smartphone ownership rate.

3. Do people in Malaysia still use feature phones?

Yes, but fewer each year. DOSM found 15.5% of households had a feature phone in 2025, down from 16.3% in 2023. Many of these homes also own a smartphone, and the feature phone is often kept for an older family member or as a backup.

4. Which Malaysian state has the lowest mobile phone ownership?

Kelantan, at 96.8% of people aged 15 and above in 2025. Sabah (97.0%), Perlis and Sarawak (both 97.1%) follow. Kuala Lumpur has the highest ownership at 99.9%, followed by Putrajaya and Labuan.

5. Why are there more mobile connections than people in Malaysia?

Malaysia had 44.0 million mobile connections at the end of 2025, or 122% of the population, according to DataReportal. Many people carry a second SIM for work, data or travel, and some connections are for devices such as tablets. Connections count SIM cards, not people.