Apple Trailed Samsung in Holiday Quarter With an Estimated 68.4M iPhones Shipped

[PickUrPoison]

"I'm not number 1?? You know what? I won't even tell you how many I'm selling"
--Apple

Apple was the outlier when they were reporting unit sales. Who else reports units?

There’s a reason Strategy Analytics, IDC and Canalys don’t agree on the numbers: they make estimates. Because the manufacturers don’t disclose actuals.

 

[vcboard]

Apple sinking lol as if...

They still are selling a huge amount even given the issues in recent months.

They also said Titanic was unsinkable

 

[PickUrPoison]

Not a good week for Apple (earnings issues, forecast adjustment, Tim's comments about high price, etc.). Maybe Tim will realize he needs to do something.

Not much Cook can do to fix China’s economy.

He can offset the effects of a strong dollar though, by eating the portion of price increases caused by FX rates in some countries, as mentioned in the earnings call yesterday.

 

[I7guy]

They also said Titanic was unsinkable

Of course, in the realm of anything can happen pick your conjecture.

 

[BaccaBossMC]

Using the CIRP data provided right after Q4 ended, along with the Revenue numbers from earlier this week, I came up with just over 65.3 million units sold. I would be very interested to see how IDC calculates their estimates.

 

[jlouie]

Not sure if it makes too much difference to the discussion, but the legend in the chart is wrong. It should be Samsung, Apple, Huawei. Was throwing me off for a second...

 

[I7guy]

When you make a phone without a headphone jack and then rip people off with ridiculous prices... this is bound to happen.

Congrats Apple, you're starting to sink.

What's bound to happen?

Apple has less marketshare than Samsung who sells $100 phones. Should be no surprise to anybody.

 

[torana355]

Their margin reports tell me that already.

Mind you, since I find value in the products and services I purchase from them, I do not feel ripped-off.

Products with a much lower margin also provide value. Just because you enjoy a product does not mean said company is not over-charging you.

 

[Arbuthnott]

"I'm not number 1?? You know what? I won't even tell you how many I'm selling"
--Apple

Hmmm. You’re looking at the wrong figures. Business is about profit, and Appled clearly creamed the field on that. Some people have difficulty grasping the fundamentals.

 

[I7guy]

Products with a much lower margin also provide value. Just because you enjoy a product does not mean said company is not over-charging you.

Over-charge in this sense is personal definition.

 

[Cosmosent]

RE: "With Apple no longer offering a breakdown of unit sales of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, analyst estimates from sources like IDC and Strategy Analytics won't be able to be confirmed."

Now, more than ever, it's important to Ask the Question, "Does this Make Any Sense ?"

Specifically, if by Nov 1st, AAPL thought they might do 68.4M iPhones in the current Qtr, does it Make Any Sense that they would NOT want to Report that Number ???

To me, something is "fishy" with the Reported iPhone Revenue Number.

AAPL likes to report good news by shouting it out from Rooftops !

Bad news, they like to suppress as best as possible, & try to deflect with some really stupid tangent (e.g., their grocery cart example on Nov 1st).

As I see it, AAPL decided to announce on Nov 1st they they would NO longer report Unit Sales because of one of two possible scenarios:

1.) Units had dropped SIGNIFICANTLY, or

2.) ASP had dropped SIGNIFICANTLY (i.e., they we're now selling ALOT more 1-2 year old devices than they we're publicly disclosing).

Ask yourself, what would AAPL Mgmt fear the most, if the public found out.

Clearly #2.

We ALL know the XS Max sold really well, & for good reason ... it's a very good fit for those into Game apps.

The XS could have sold just as well, but Schiller dropped the Ball (again).

Cook (& Schiller) never properly promoted the benefits of the 4 GB of DRAM in the XS, so it basically Tanked in the Market (relative to what it could have done) ... one app I know of could have propelled it way ahead of the XR, but Cook has a BIG Ego, & a NOT Invented Here attitude.

AAPL has stated repeatedly that the XR has been the best selling since Release on Oct 26th.

There are two periods in the Qtr, Oct 1-25, & Oct26-Dec31.

Cook & his Team made their decision based-upon what they saw from FCS of the XS & XS Max, thru the first week of sales of the XR, which ended just before the Nov 1st Earnings Call.

NO WAY did they decide to Stop Reporting Unit Sales if the number appeared to be good @ that point.

So, what happened ???

I believe AAPL may be hiding something that NO ONE has yet figured out.

 

[torana355]

Over-charge in this sense is personal definition.

I disagree. In my mind overcharging is based on the market average margin for a product with similar features etc.

 

[RickInHouston]

How does Samsung monetize their phones after sale? I give Apple $25 a month in services and $149 every 2 years in AppleCare so on top of $1249 I spend on a phone every 12 months, I'm giving them $450 extra in addition to any apps I download at 30%

Is Samsung able to do that?

I'm not talking about Apple's majority share of smartphone profits which they clearly lead in

You sound very proud of your spending. It's a thing. I get it.

 

[koruki]

lol I see people have left their auto doomsday day bots posting for the last decade... sinking okay.. yeah you'll be amazed how much buoyancy cash has compared to units sold.

 

[Arbuthnott]

So apple doesn’t want to reveal units sold...
That’s okay. It probably didn’t aell due to apple trying hard to advertise the “trade in.”

Go back to being coo.

It’s a funny old world when a company taking more than 100% of available profits, and the most profitable company in the world gets bad press. I guess it’s all the hate, jealousy, and Schadenfreude.

 

[TonyRS]

They have been using massive amounts of cash to make original films and content which is very expensive to do if you haven't noticed. It could be said that perhaps they could have started earlier but the cash is definitely in play now. The numbers for wearables are home runs and also there was a good spike in iPad sales. You notice how many articles there are recently about iPads?

The laser camera on the phone is interesting as far as innovation goes and if it has implications for AR it is the tip of the iceberg when you consider the entire package with their wearables and how they may all interact. they have been making great progress in the medical field but perhaps because it doesn't excite you that isn't considered innovation?

Well, Apple used to be the computer company. Then it became the iPod company. Now it's the music/software and iPhone company. Maybe the watches/wearables are the next thing already. But these feel less essential and more like a product line riding on the coattails of the iPhone's success.

 

[Arbuthnott]

You sound very proud of your spending. It's a thing. I get it.

Someone was trying to explain to you why Apple is flourishing, compared to Samsung making a loss on phones and being kept afloat by their chip manufacturing. The dexplanation seems to have gone over your head.

 

[I7guy]

I disagree. In my mind overcharging is based on the market average margin for a product with similar features etc.

That's your personal definition. My definition of over-charging is a product not worth the value to me vs expensive. Yes Apple (and others in the same price range) is expensive.

But imo, Apple is not over charging, for example, for an iphone Xs max.

 

[Arbuthnott]

Well, Apple used to be the computer company. Then it became the iPod company. Now it's the music/software and iPhone company. Maybe the watches/wearables are the next thing already. But these feel less essential and more like a product line riding on the coattails of the iPhone's success.

Ecosystem.

 

[magicman32]

When you make a phone without a headphone jack and then rip people off with ridiculous prices... this is bound to happen.

Congrats Apple, you're starting to sink.

Oh my freaking God with the headphone jack BS again.

Sales decline has NOTHING (imo) to do with the headphone jack that you and 12 other people still worry about. But hey, enjoy that echo chamber with those dozen other people. Sounds like fun.

Your trolling has really fallen off from what I've seen. Seriously, if your going to continue in this manner, at least keep the creative juices and original thoughts flowing.

 

[DragoniteD]

fix the legend of the diagram, Huawei Apple are marked wrong, they should be exchanged

 

[Arbuthnott]

The most important conclusion from this IDC data isn't that Apple is #2 and Samsung #1.
What is interesting is that the smartphone shipments are down 4.9% YoY, but Apple is down down 11.5% YoY and all the growth is coming from the Chinese companies.

Your conclusion is clearly flawed. Samsung loses money overall on phones, and keeps going on chip sales. You seem to think that’s a success, because unit sales is a wrong and misleading measure. That’s why Spple has stopped reporting unit sales.
[doublepost=1548904039][/doublepost]

You are 100% correct … I still use the 6s because I don't want to spend $1000 to give up the headset jack.

Best decision ever to ditch headphones with wires. Really old hat. When are they going to ditch wires entirely? Anyone who doesn’t like the future can go and find a cheap Indian or Chinese knockoff that sticks with lo-tech wires that you are unable to let go of. Maybe even a second headphone jack so you can share with a friend.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

Well, Apple used to be the computer company. Then it became the iPod company. Now it's the music/software and iPhone company. Maybe the watches/wearables are the next thing already. But these feel less essential and more like a product line riding on the coattails of the iPhone's success.

What do you suggest they do? They can't only sell iPhones forever and the Mac might as well die it represents minuscule profits and it isn't as good at driving services as an iPad or iPhone or watch. If these things ride the coat tails it means they are attached to each other and all parts are working in unison and congruent with in the ecosystem.

 

[macizcool]

I had a Samsung Galaxy S9+ and I really liked it. The camera's optical zoom was the best feature. The headphone jack was a lifesaver for me in many instances. And the phone overall had a lot of useful features. On top of that, the wireless performance was much better compared to an iPhone.


I also have an iPhone 7. Even though it's been a good phone for me, I hesitate to upgrade. The new iPhones are WAY overpriced for what you get. iPhones since the 6 have had some sort of quality program, the radios are sub-par, and the OS is garbage. The cost of AppleCare (and the service fees) continue to increase, as well.

When there are amazing mid-range Android phones in the $200 to $400 range, it's silly to spend so much on an iPhone....A device that will be out of date in a couple years, or it'll be dropped/lost. It's preposterous that people go into debt over these phones.

But then again, the Mac is the center of my world, and I love how the iPhone works with my MacBook Pro.

I'm really hoping for some good news during the next iPhone launch.

 

[Michael Scrip]

The Motorola Razr was the #1 selling cell phone by a factor of 7.

According to Wikipedia... The Razr was the best-selling flip-phone.

But there were quite a few Nokia candybar phones which sold more than the Razr.

So I'd say Nokia holds the crown of the #1 selling cell phone overall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_mobile_phones#Top-selling_mobile_phones