The EPN Journal Podcast · 2026-07-21 · 20 min
In 2025 the volume of global smartphone shipments reached around 1.25 billion units. Combining new phone activations with replacement SIMs issued by mobile operators, total physical SIM card production for smartphones stood at roughly 3.2 to 3.5 billion units. In 2026, phone shipments are expected to be around 1.09 to 1.20 billion units. Physical SIM card production for smartphones in 2026 is estimated at approximately 2.9 to 3.2 billion units. That Sim Card, a small piece of plastic that looks tiny in your hand, doesn’t look like much. But when there’s billions of them, it is a major problem for sustainability. This is something that Holafly is trying to fix, with eSims. An eSIM (embedded Subscriber Identity Module) is a programmable microchip permanently built into a device's motherboard, replacing the traditional removable plastic SIM card. Using less plastic is so much better for sustainability. There’s also other considerations that Holafly aims to help with, such as improved security, bringing an end to unexpected high phone bills, and making logistics a lot less complicated.
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