Apple Shipped an Estimated 36.4 Million iPhones Worldwide in Q1 2019, a 30% Year-Over-Year Decline

[OlliFlamme]

That’s only part of it. The other considerations would be the influx of price increases with the iPhones as they stand currently and the battery replacement program Apple introduced over the last year. When you combine all *three* of those considerations, it takes a toll on the iPhone greatly. Moving forward, it’s all about strategizing and trying to bring the customer into the store to upgrade.

Still, all those arguments and conclusions are obsolete: new phones are being bought, and an (increasing) lot of them ain’t an iphone. It’s like Apple taking the secondary road instead of the highway: they are outside the heavy traffic.

Upgrading cycle of people already owning an iPhone is just one part of the cake. Apple’s newest iPhones are not irrationally engaging the people to upgrade: there is nothing amazingly attractive to them, compared to older phones. An upgrade has become too much of a conundrum, since on top of the weak attractiveness we have a price level that easily kills the already weak irrational attraction to upgrade.

So, a lot of phones are being bought, and many of those ain’t iPhones. What about new adopters? How about attracting new people into the Apple ecosystem? Could it possibly be that those get in with a second hand phone? Or no, they would buy a 7, but that is ‘old’ technology...

People that have a tradion of buying cheaper phones, do so to be able to hook onto a newer phone later on, at a similar price point. The consideration to break that habit and buy a new phone (an iPhone) to hold on to longer, is met with a threshold. Apple is not at all tempting those folks to step into their game, since the price level is at such a point that it cannot even be motivated by a longer use period.

To my opinion it is crystal clear that Apple made a deliberate choice to dump the SE approach, but where is the logic, and where is the explanation?

I really don’t get it. Since the X, I am confused: I used to be an early adopter since iPhone 4, and upgraded my iphone nearly every year.
After my 7 Plus, i was sceptical of the glass 8. The X after that was also glass, and I upgraded anyways trough pre-ordering, even if the price of it was controversial.
But! I felt it was a stupid purchase and sold it after three months, to buy another...7 Plus! Last summer, I ‘upgraded’ to an 8 Plus, and I am not feeling a tad out of tune.

Apple lost me: I don’t wanna buy a claustrophobic full screen phone... but if i will have to, I will eventually. But not at that price point, NEVER!

Having the latest iPhone used to give a person a cool, hip, progressive touch. Nowadays, it just seems to make you a fool.

 

[I7guy]

...
Having the latest iPhone used to give a person a cool, hip, progressive touch. Nowadays, it just seems to make you a fool.

Maybe in your circles, not in mine.

 

[DeepIn2U]

I love iPhones but it seems price has played a factor in lower sales
even if smart phone trends are down.

Agreed. Many on the boards thought the iPhone X would be affected ... they were just a year too early.

I love Apple. But I didn't like spending over $1k on a new iPhone XS to replace my 6+. People are not wanting to spend that much money on a phone.

Majority of current and potential new iPhone users - I'd agree. Not until the cost of repairs of an older model fall in line with the carrier hardware upgrade.

Here in Canada there has been a severely lacklustre subsidized pricing with iPhone XS and with Apple stupidly (or protectionist move to be honest) in pulling the iPhone X for sales at 64/128GB pricing levels a year after introduction, thinking that the iPhone XR would pick up ... obviously was not a good move. Pretty much all big chain retailers that sell on contract (BestBuy, TheSource, etc) no longer have the X 256/128GB options that I'm looking for in GTA.

We may see a pickup of Sales late summer when young students have earned a whole lot before back to school or when back to school sales kicks in.

I knew the sales drop had to be huge considering Apple's equally huge announcement of buying back $75B in shares today. Apple is following in IBM's footsteps - using financial engineering to mask an underlying deterioration in its core business. Time will tell how well their growing services business will be able to pick up the slack.

Indeed. 1.4 Billion devices will hold them for a while ... along with iPads ... but Gen Z if fully mobile and many do not own an iPad they can put whatever they want.

Considering the stock is up almost 5% after hours Wall Street has already factored this in.

(maniacal voice) ... For Now .... For Noooowwww!

If the dwindling in sales or ownership shown from iOS updates continues this year then this will be a concern for services growth .

 

[Rocketman]

The stock price is up 5.30% or so this morning on news of buybacks, dividend increase, large increases in services revenue. AAPL is finally after 8-10 years being recognized for the annuity income producer that it is. Installed base of handsets is more important than quarterly sales as the product lifespan stretches.

Normally AAPL sells on news. This time it was a BUY. The January $140 lows were a major buying opportunity comparable to the $88 price I pounded the table on a few years ago. AAPL is a dollar cost average buy.

Headed back to a Trillion market cap DESPITE massive share buybacks!

 

[Wowereit]

Well I’m looking forward to the rumoured XE if it turns up, otherwise another XR for me next year.. not paying Apples stupid pricing for the high end now I’ve got used to an XR.

How about just not upgrading every year?

XS Max every other year is still cheaper than XR every year

 

[wilsonlaidlaw]

Maybe now Apple will see what a stupid decision dropping the small screen model SE was. Apparently the current range of iPhones are too large for many women's hands and for folks like me with arthritic hands. I bought a spare SE 128GB just after they went out of production. The seller said it was their last 128GB space grey one and he could easily have sold over a hundred more if they had been able to get them.

 

[FFR]

Ok, i get your point.
USP: What i wanted to say is that for many people, iPhone does not have a special value when compared to most Android devices. It might be that iPhone has better components (being it cameras, modems, screen, you name it) but many people just don't care because what cheaper phones offer is enough for them.

Yes androids main USP is it’s cheap, iPhones aren’t.

Over 200 million consumers care enough to buy an iPhone every year, and they are not cheap.

When people have the choice between "premium" Android phones and iPhone, most will choose iPhone.
So you're right when talking about the premium segment.

If you only sell in the premium segment. What else is there?

Apple looses market share because the "mid price" segment is growing and people do not see the additional value of iPhone for them.

At least, this is what i observe...

Cheapest 2018 iPhone is the iPhone XR, starts at $750. That’s not midrange, that’s still premium.

Apple offers their older phones for midrange prices. It’s not really lost market share if apple is not entering the market at those price points.

 

[Rogifan]

The iPhone in its current form factor is dead. There is little Apple can do now to it to drum up sales. Removing the bezels was the last major hurdle aesthetically. There are of course ways to make the iPhone better moving forward. (Improve the screen, processor, camera, battery life.) But nothing to really get people desiring to upgrade when their current device works. Carriers have admitted less people are upgrading these days. Also a lot of people were turned off by the more premium iPhone's.

What Apple needs to do is offer a smaller iPhone (potentially the rumored 5.42" device in 2020) and a folding iPhone that works well and isn't too thick when folded. Otherwise the iPhone will continue to bring in less money quarter after quarter moving forward.

Folding phones are a gimmick and the tech media will have moved on to something else soon enough. I mean I remember when Apple was doomed because it wasn’t in VR, then because it didn’t have chat bots, then because it didn’t have a cheap smart speaker. Now the big thing is folding phones. The tech media is so ADD. By this time next year they’ll have moved on to something else.
[doublepost=1556717016][/doublepost]

You mean they factored in the new share buyback program Apple announced. They're going to blow through their cash pool propping up their failing stock.

You mean the falling stock that is actually up 27% year to date?

https://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=AAPL

 

[sofila]

Where are those "it's only a China localized problem" experts?

 

[Rogifan]

As usual the last couple of years, Huawei did it right (reminds me of Apple in years gone by):

Much sleeker design and folding the proper way to make the screen last. Much wider radius doing it this way and makes it possible using glass thus solving the scratching problem.

How does having the screen on the outside of the device make it last? That thing will be scratched to hell in no time. And what happens if you drop it? Talk about fragile.

 

[sofila]

Deleted

 

[realtuner]

If I say an iPhone is too expensive, then I am right.

Irrelevant.

The gist of people’s comments are that iPhones are too expensive, therefore people aren’t buying them. Yet this IDC report is claiming ASP went up, so in fact Apple IS selling more of the expensive phones.

 

[OlliFlamme]

That’s one of the lamest things I’ve ever heard.

It’s probably from a perspective of a human focusing more on his muscles than his brain Blessed are the simple minded...

 

[MarkB786]

I knew the sales drop had to be huge considering Apple's equally huge announcement of buying back $75B in shares today. Apple is following in IBM's footsteps - using financial engineering to mask an underlying deterioration in its core business. Time will tell how well their growing services business will be able to pick up the slack.

Exactly this, although "cloud services" is a real thing these days. Still, deteroration at the core (at the main thing that sets you apart from others) and replacing it with something common is only buying you a little time.

 

[MultiMan]

How does having the screen on the outside of the device make it last? That thing will be scratched to hell in no time. And what happens if you drop it? Talk about fragile.

I already explained in my post about it. Much larger radius with the screen going on the outside makes it possible to use glass instead of plastics, and also thicker materials as it doesn't have to bend as sharply.

Will it be more fragile than a standard phone? Yes, at the start at least, but I'm sure it will be worked around. It will not be too fragile to be impractical anyway, that's my firm belief.

 

[OlliFlamme]

Not if they were expecting to ship 50 million.

Were they? If they did, any babble about market diversification, ASP, profit and smart management in this thread is finally kicked of the table.

If Apple expected 50 million units, that means that even if there are arguments to say they do well anyways is just to hide the fact that Apple could have done better.

I am persuaded that it could do a better than already a good job, period!

 

[Vjosullivan]

I love Apple. But I didn't like spending over $1k on a new iPhone XS to replace my 6+. People are not wanting to spend that much money on a phone.

I did that, too. And, although every component of the X is better than than the 6, the sum of the parts is basically identical.
[doublepost=1556720155][/doublepost]

Considering last yeah they had just released the iPhone X the biggest change to the line up in 3 years, it was going to be a battle.

Was it really a big change? Better certainly but not much of a change from what had gone before.

 

[russell_314]

Maybe in your circles, not in mine.

If you think a phone makes you "cool" or anything of the sort and you're over 14 years old please seek mental help. A phone should not be tied to your self worth period. It's an entertainment and communication device.

 

[Vjosullivan]

It’s common sense that foldable phones are going to revolutionize the smartphone industry.

Revolutionise in what way exactly?

 

[dilbert99]

Irrelevant.

The gist of people’s comments are that iPhones are too expensive, therefore people aren’t buying them. Yet this IDC report is claiming ASP went up, so in fact Apple IS selling more of the expensive phones.

No, was simply correcting someones view that because they think something is not expensive that other peoples views shouldn't be taken in to account.
Expensive is not volume related but a persons perception and or a relation to where a product sits in a price scale.

iPhones are by definition expensive.

 

[Vjosullivan]

It’s a tablet you can carry in your pocket. I need to say no more than that.

You do if you want to convince anybody.

 

[manni]

The market has clearly changed very dramatically over the past year or two and it's clear too that both Apple and Samsung have been caught out by it. It's not very obvious to many people living in the west but if you spend time in Asia you see it clearly.

Smartphones are now where TVs and microwaves are - ie consumer products that any anonymous company can churn out. Sure you can pay extra to get the latest high end TV but 99% of people would be fine with the one using last year's components for a lot less. There are countless companies now selling smartphones in China and India that aren't even sold in the west.

They are - frankly - often junk compared to Apple in terms of physical quality. They will look nice, edge to edge displays etc but the component quality is poor. However they are fully featured and very cheap. And in 12 months when cheaper chips, better lenses, brighter screens are available those companies will quickly get those components into a phone and sell them cheap. It is why Apple is doing so badly in India - I'm afraid today selling an iPhone 7 at premium prices just doesn't cut it when for half the price (indeed much less) you can get a chinese phone with two or three portrait lenses, edge to edge display, google photos (i.e. unlimited cloud photos storage for free) and access to all the latest apps too.

Quite how this will pan out I don't know. For me I am still willing to pay the premium for Apple though they are pushing their luck and it doesn't surprise me to see such a huge drop. 30% in one year is massive. It will require Apple re-thinking their approach, not just a new model. Their ability to sell older hardware at premium prices is vanishing. I don't expect they will go down the road of selling cheaper models so they are going to have to try to achieve higher profit margins or get more from services. Let's hope they don't go down the road too far and end up doing as Rolex and Leica did, moving from top end products to luxury items. I hope they can figure out a middle course - their attention to detail, design aesthetics, manufacturing quality is still the best but they have been incredibly slow to recognise the changing market. They should have given unlimited iCloud storage to photos too - get people locked in to the ecosystem instead of trying to nickel and dime customers for more than 5GB. On that front Google outsmarted them.
[doublepost=1556720614][/doublepost]

Irrelevant.

The gist of people’s comments are that iPhones are too expensive, therefore people aren’t buying them. Yet this IDC report is claiming ASP went up, so in fact Apple IS selling more of the expensive phones.

But in the growing markets it is the less expensive phones that are the biggest opportunity and there Apple has a business model that worked in 2014 in the west but won't in 2019 in Asia. Selling an iPhone 7 in 2019 at premium prices is becoming less viable every quarter.

 

[dilbert99]

It’s only expensive if not enough people are willing to pay for it, hence market dictates.

incorrect. Apple sells lots of phones yet they are still expensive. The term is not related to volume.

If you fly economy, business class is indeed expensive....if you fly first class, business class is a bargain, economy is practically free in comparison.

Both business class and first class are both expensive.

Premium smartphones like premium goods and service are priced accordingly, and so is the iPhone.

Premium smart phones are by definition expensive

Just because you find it expensive or out of budget does not mean a market does not exist for the said iPhone.

And?

I never said a market does not exist for the iPhone.

I also never said it was out of budget.

There are many things I consider expensive but within my budget.

You didn’t seem to have a problem with the galaxy fold being 2000 dollars, or the fact that it don’t have a headphone jack, seems hypocritical.

Ah, researching past posts? I wouldn't waste your time.

Yes the galaxy fold is expensive. but neat none the less.

I hate that phones do not have headphone jacks. It means that if I don't have my bluetooth ones with me or my lightning ones then I cannot have audio in public. that sucks.

 

[slam5]

Apple have to stop this nonsense about raising price everytime they don't make enough $$ computing products go DOWN in prices with time.

Apple shipped an estimated 36.4 million iPhones worldwide during the first calendar quarter of 2019, which corresponds to Apple's second fiscal quarter, according to new estimates shared today by IDC.

Apple's worldwide smartphone shipments were down 30.2 percent from 52.2 million iPhones shipped in the first quarter of 2018. The decline in sales led to Apple losing the number two worldwide smartphone vendor spot to Huawei. In Q1 2019, Huawei shipped an estimated 59.1 million smartphones.

While Apple was the number three worldwide smartphone vendor and Huawei took the second place spot, Samsung continues to dominate the market with an estimated 71.9 million smartphones shipped during the quarter for 23.1 percent market share.

Apple, meanwhile, had 11.7 percent market share, down from 15.7 percent in the year-ago quarter, while Huawei held 19 percent market share during the quarter. Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo trailed after Samsung, Huawei, and Apple.

Apple was the number two smartphone vendor in Q4 2018 due to stronger holiday quarter sales, but fell behind this quarter. Huawei saw significant growth in China according to earlier numbers from Canalys, a market where Apple is struggling.Overall smartphone shipment estimates totaled 310.8 million units in the first quarter of 2019, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. Apple no longer provides a breakdown of unit sales of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, leaving estimates as the only way to get a glimpse of how Apple product sales are faring.

Article Link: Apple Shipped an Estimated 36.4 Million iPhones Worldwide in Q1 2019, a 30% Year-Over-Year Decline

 

[blairh]

So?

It's a crappy smartphone that looks even worse than the iPhone SE when closed (not to mention being twice as thick), and when unfolded, it's a small android tablet (and we know how bad the android tablet ecosystem is).

The whole selling point is a tablet which you can then fold to keep in your pocket, and that to me is the flaw of the entire premise. I don't see how having to unfold and fold your tablet every time you want to use it can be considered a great user experience at all. It might seem novel at first, but I am willing to bet that this will get annoying very quickly.

You are basing what a folding iPhone two years from now will look like on the horrid Galaxy Fold? Talk about short sighted.
[doublepost=1556721156][/doublepost]

I don’t agree. The last thing we need as a society is more phone screens. I think foldable screens will have their place, but another phone isn’t going to move the needle for the industry. The value is minimal.

I completely disagree with this. I think people will greatly welcome a tablet you can carry in your front pocket. It's a new category entirely.
[doublepost=1556721206][/doublepost]

Revolutionise in what way exactly?

People are going to want a piece of this brand new category. A folding iPhone will be unlike anything Apple has ever offered before.
[doublepost=1556721256][/doublepost]

You do if you want to convince anybody.

The appeal of a folding iPhone is obvious. If you don't see it, there really is nothing I can say to you mate.