Apple's U.S. iPhone User Base Sees Slowing Growth in Q1 2019

[MacRumors]

Apple's estimated U.S. iPhone installed base saw little growth in the first calendar quarter of (second fiscal quarter) of 2019, according to new data shared today by Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP).

As of March 30, 2019, the U.S. iPhone use base hit 193 million units, compared to 189 million units at the end of the December quarter, marking two percent growth quarter over quarter.

Apple's iPhone user base was at 173 million units at the end of the March 2018 quarter, for year over year growth of 12 percent, which is not bad, but not quite hitting the growth rates of prior years.

A year ago, the installed iPhone user base in the U.S. grew four percent quarter over quarter and 19 percent compared to the prior year, indicating a plateau iPhone user base.

"The US installed base of iPhones continues to plateau," said Josh Lowitz, CIRP Partner and Co-Founder. "Relative to the most recent quarters, and especially to the past two or three years, slowing unit sales and longer ownership periods means that the growth in the number of US iPhones has flattened considerably. Of course, 12% growth in a year, after years of much greater growth is still good. However, investors grew accustomed to quarterly growth of 5% or more, and annual growth of almost 20%. This continuing trend prompts investors to wonder if iPhone sales outside of the US will compensate, and places greater pressure on Apple's determination to sell other products and services to the installed base of iPhone owners."

CIRP's estimated U.S. iPhone installed base is based on estimated worldwide iPhone sales of 39 million, calculated from Apple's iPhone revenue and average iPhone selling price for the quarter ending in March 2019.

iPhone sales have slowed down, and in January, the decline in sales over the holiday period led Apple to make the rare move of lowering its expected revenue guidance. Apple also saw a dip in revenue in the second fiscal quarter (first calendar quarter) of 2019, bringing in $58 billion, compared to $61.1 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Apple has never provided a specific breakdown of the number of active devices in the United States, but earlier this year, the company said there were 1.4 billion active devices around the world. 900 million of those devices are iPhones.

Article Link: Apple's U.S. iPhone User Base Sees Slowing Growth in Q1 2019

 

[snowboarder]

How surprising, that notch is so beautiful

 

[ghostface147]

I'm happy with my X. My recent issue of potential overheating was fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling just one app. I don't plan to upgrade this year and maybe even next.

 

[Cosmosent]

Thanks for the Data, much appreciated !

 

[smaffei]

Considering that there is 327 million people in the US. 50 million are 11 years old or below (don't know many people who are buying phones for their 9 year old).… That means roughly 70% of the phone buying population in the US owns an iPhone. I don't think you can expect bigger increases after hitting that landmark.

 

[Crowbot]

Considering that there is 327 million people in the US. 50 million are 11 years old or below (don't know many people who are buying phones for their 9 year old).… That means roughly 70% of the phone buying population in the US owns an iPhone. I don't think you can expect bigger increases after hitting that landmark.

Some buy more than one and companies buy them by the thousands.

 

[DrJohnnyN]

I'm happy with my X. My recent issue of potential overheating was fixed by uninstalling and reinstalling just one app. I don't plan to upgrade this year and maybe even next.

What app?

 

[44267547]

Considering how dominant the iPhone is, it’s not really a surprise the market is saturated. Also, It’s not just the iPhone, it’s smart phones in general that have been on the decline. The inflation with smart phones in general has pushed the consumer to keep their devices longer, a smart phone is not something that _needs_ to be upgraded every year.

 

[69Mustang]

That means roughly 70% of the phone buying population in the US owns an iPhone.

That's not a conclusion that you can reach based on the data provided. It would be like saying Apple has over a billion active devices worldwide therefore they have over a billion users worldwide.

 

[Todd Fisher]

Is anyone really surprised that people are upgrading less frequently? My previous employer supplied me with a new iPhone every year at it's release (we tested iPhone accessories)... I stopped upgrading at the 7 Plus, and have been using that model since it's release. It's worked fine and pretty much has met my needs since then... about the only complaint is the battery could be replaced at this point. This is the first year though since the 7 Plus that I've considered upgrading, and that's really more because I'd like to have the new upcoming camera...

 

[now i see it]

There's a finite number of people who can afford these things.

 

[NickName99]

Apple is probably doomed again

 

[44267547]

Is anyone really surprised that people are upgrading less frequently? My previous employer supplied me with a new iPhone every year at it's release (we tested iPhone accessories)... I stopped upgrading at the 7 Plus, and have been using that model since it's release. It's worked fine and pretty much has met my needs since then... about the only complaint is the battery could be replaced at this point. This is the first year though since the 7 Plus that I've considered upgrading, and that's really more because I'd like to have the new upcoming camera...

Bolded: I was just saying that above, that it’s not a surprise at all consumers are not upgrading, why would they need to when their current smart phone does everything they require and more? It’s not the technology isn’t necessarily compelling, it’s the price points that is suffocating the technology that the consumer doesn’t find interesting. Those are all mutually exclusive tangents affecting smart phone sales.

 

[iop]

It's not unexpected. Saturation was anticipated, and that's probably the reason Apple decided to move into the premium segment. Of course, that move even further reduced demand. But that's find (from Apple's point of view) because that's where they expect to see the best profit.

 

[ScottishDuck]

Weird it’s almost like infinite growth, the cornerstone of the current world economy, is not actually possible and we’re approaching a massive market crash

 

[cale508]

And if the new iPhone design proves to be accurate, they'll be even less growth or even a decline.

 

[dgdosen]

What app?

"What's App"
"That's what I asked, what app?"
"I just told you - What's App"
"Now look, what's the name of the app that caused your phone to heat up?"
"Exactly!"

cc: Abott and Costello

 

[fontman]

Stop devaluing the stock on iPhone assumptions. Their so much to apple than the iPhone itself .

 

[Heelpir8]

I've been telling friends and family to wait until Qualcomm modems are back in iPhones next year to make a purchase.

 

[SeattleMoose]

When the SE2 didn't materialize the iPhone choices became phablet A vs phablet B...all with no HP jack.
Apple's dumb decisions are catching up with them. The old Jobs comment that we the consumers don't know what we want until Apple shows us, was true when Apple was putting out truly innovative and revolutionary products. Those days are gone. Today it is we the consumers who know what WE want...and Apple can no longer smugly ignore us. And coming up with incremental versions that are functionally inferior to the last generation is just churn for the sake of churn and $$$. Unfortunately the tech industry is stuck with a business model where they can only survive if yesterday's products are thrown out every year or so and consumers are forced to "keep up or else"....
I have had my toaster for 30 years. Still works and does everything I need. Wasn't even tempted by a "smart toaster" (with USB port and trendy colors) that started talking to me as I walked by it...

 

[xalea]

I guess that's what happens when the price goes from $500 to $1300 in the span of a few years.

 

[Doc C]

So (just to be clear) - investment houses are unhappy because Apple is "only" increasing sales by 12% (or whatever) on over 200M users in 2018, rather than 19% on 170M a year ago? Do they expect that Apple can keep increasing the user base at a ridiculous rate indefinitely or do they understand the law of large numbers?
(if the former, then perhaps they need to go back to high-school math...)

 

[Carnegie]

If iPhone’s U.S. install base is as large as they estimate, that’s pretty incredible.

When it comes to my own experience, more and more of the people I text with are going blue. There isn’t much green left now.

 

[realtuner]

But...but...Android market share is gaining and iPhone is going down. How is it possible that iPhone user base can increase when they're losing the market share war? /s

 

[ghostface147]

What app?

Xfinity Stream. It started getting the phone really hot, but not scalding hot to cause phone shutdown. More like a that's not normal hot. As soon as I deleted the app and reinstalled it, it works normally now. Weird. It had run fine for a couple of weeks after the latest update then just went haywire.