Nope, most mobile phones here don't have FM reception. Not the iPhone, not most Android phones. Mostly the Lumia ones and few select others.
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Actually the vast majority of unbranded/generic Android smartphones - which make up a significant userbase in East Asia - have FM radios. Some of them have FM transmitters too.
As the grandparent comment says, it's because the combo IC includes the functionality; here's an example of one that's quite common:
http://www.mediatek.com/en/products/connectivity/wifi/mobile...
Many of these handsets are based on the MTK reference platform, and since that includes the FM radio app, the companies that produce them see no reason to remove it - after all, it allows them to have "FM radio" as one of the bullet points in the feature list.
Actually most android phones DO have FM radios, but they are disabled by the carrier-branded versions of the OS.
I'm pretty sure the reason they do it is because they have deals with iHeart Radio.
Honestly, the customer doesn't care if the chip supports it. The out-of-the-box experience of´the vast majority of mobile phones (excluding Lumia and some dumb phones – I forgot those) is simply: no FM radio.
Actually, the vast majority of mobile phones do have built-in FM. That might not be true in the US, but it is certainly true of the the vast majority of mobile phones worldwide.
More likely: most US mobile phones not made by Apple also have FM, but the carriers block it. Hence http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/04/16/400178...
Android user here (with a carrier phone). It has FM radio. As does every one I've ever seen. It's so basic that it's a widget for the homescreen rather than an app. This may be why you missed it...
That is strange. Fairly close to Norway, the market is different: I would say almost all phones in Finland have FM radios, except iPhones. Lumias have them, most Androids have them (except Galaxy S4), and all the Nokia S40 and Symbian phones have them.
Just checked my Z3. It has.
My old Note II had too.