iPhone Sales Flat in Q1 2017 as Chinese Phone Makers Increase Global Market Share

[MacRumors]

Worldwide iPhone sales were flat in the first quarter of 2017, according to Gartner, causing a year-on-year drop in Apple's share of a growing smartphone industry boosted by the rise of top Chinese mobile manufacturers breaking out into neighboring markets.

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 380 million units in the first quarter of 2017, a 9.1 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016, reported Gartner. Of that figure, Apple sold 51.9 million units, up from 51.6 million in Q1 2016, leading to a drop in market share year over year. Samsung retained top spot with 78.6 million units sold to end users, and held on to 20.7 per cent market share, but both figures were declines on a year ago.

"Sales of iPhones were flat, which led to a drop in market share year over year," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. "Similar to Samsung, Apple is increasingly facing fierce competition from Chinese brands Oppo and Vivo, among others, and its performance in China is under attack."

Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo had a combined market share in the first quarter of 2017 that accounted for 24 percent, up 7 percent year on year. Huawei held third spot behind second-placed Apple, edging closer to the company with 34 million units in Q1 2017, while Oppo continued to catch up with Huawei, with a 94.7 percent increase in global sales, resulting in the best performance of the quarter and maintaining its number one position in China.

The top three Chinese smartphone manufacturers are driving sales with their competitively priced, high quality smartphones equipped with innovative features, according to Gartner, with aggressive marketing and sales promotion having further helped the brands to take share from others in markets such as India, Indonesia and Thailand. In India alone, for example, Vivo grew by 220 per cent.

In the operating system market, iOS saw continued growth, with a 0.9 percent uptick in market share year on year. But it was Android that fared best, growing its share by 2 percent, thanks to increasing acceptance of Chinese brands in global markets, led by high-quality smartphones.

Article Link: iPhone Sales Flat in Q1 2017 as Chinese Phone Makers Increase Global Market Share

 

[maflynn]

Given that many iPhone customers are now in the waiting mode for the next iPhone, these numbers are not surprising.

 

[Sunny1990]

WOW!! Samsung is towering Apple - Hope it may Force Apple to come out with better new products. Competition is always good for consumers.

 

[pickaxe]

WoW!! Samsung is towering apple - it may Force Apple to come out with better products. Competition is always good for consumers.

Hopefully it will influence the price point of the iPhone 8. Anything over 800$ is completely out of the question for me.

 

[keysofanxiety]

WoW!! Samsung is towering apple - it may Force Apple to come out with better products. Competition is always good for consumers.

Yeah, because all those Samsung sales were flagship products and not cheaper devices.

 

[nfl46]

Yeah, because all those Samsung sales were flagship products and not cheaper devices.

You fell for it. That user likes to get a reaction out of people.

 

[2ilent8cho]

Time for an iPhone SE 2 then.

 

[keysofanxiety]

You fell for it. That user likes to get a reaction out of people.

Yep, don't even know why I clicked 'Show Ignored Content' and then felt some stupid compulsion to respond. Went for the bait like a hungry fish.

 

[antonis]

The news is not samsung or apple, though. It seems that Huawei is approaching fast.

 

[Jsameds]

WoW!! Samsung is towering Apple - it may Force Apple to come out with better new products. Competition is always good for consumers.

Number of smartphone models Samsung has brought out since 2014: 157

Number of smartphone models Apple has brought out since 2014: 7

Source: GSMArena

 

[JackieInCo]

Hopefully it will influence the price point of the iPhone 8. Anything over 800$ is completely out of the question for me.

The price will make the difference in whether I purchase the iPhone 8 or simply buy the iPhone 7 which I skipped this year. I may even go with another Android this year as I am interested in the next Note. I could easily keep using my 6S/6S+/SE for another year as well.

 

[jonnysods]

50+ million phones and the tone of the report is gloomy. That number seems incredible to me.

 

[69Mustang]

Yep, don't even know why I clicked 'Show Ignored Content' and then felt some stupid compulsion to respond. Went for the bait like a hungry fish.

Never click 'Show Ignored Content'. NEVER.

On topic: This chart highlights the outsized influence the Chinese market has on overall phone sales.

 

[psymac]

Better overall context would be to include Apple's share of profits vs number units sold.

 

[69Mustang]

50+ million phones and the tone of the report is gloomy. That number seems incredible to me.

Because you're looking at that number as a fan. These types of reports aren't produced for fans. They're for investors. Investors want to see growth. Hence the tone of the report.

 

[mejsric]

Bad news for Samsung.

 

[CarpalMac]

Given that many iPhone customers are now in the waiting mode for the next iPhone, these numbers are not surprising.

The only people I hear saying they are waiting for a new iphone to come out are on tech forums like this, giving perhaps a very slanted view of the market. This report is based on only the 2nd quarter of the annual cycle.

 

[69Mustang]

Better overall context would be to include Apple's share of profits vs number units sold.

Serious question. In an analysis of unit numbers, and that's all it is, what context would Apple's profit provide?

 

[CarpalMac]

Yeah, because all those Samsung sales were flagship products and not cheaper devices.

True as that is, imagine if Samsung stopped selling phones tomorrow. We would likely see $1500 iPhones and a 24month release cycle almost immediately.

Now if someone really could step up to compete with Apple then we as consumers definitely would benefit. The only people winning at the moment are the shareholders.

 

[iapplelove]

Lately I find myself keeping my idevices much longer than I ever have before.

iPhones are pretty damn good products I see no reason to update as frequently as I use to.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

These numbers don't live in a vacuum by themselves. Isolating them like this is no more useful than comparing a pitcher's ERA one week into the season with his ERA the first week of the previous season.

There are explanations as to why sales are slightly down YOY -- mostly the iP7 wasn't all that huge and upgrade and at launch talk was the 2018 model would incorporate important changes. Details only got more specific as the months rolled on, giving prospective iPhone upgraders and buyers less and less of a reason to buy an iP7 and more to wait for the 2018 flagship.

 

[demodave]

Worldwide iPhone sales were flat in the first quarter of 2017, according to Gartner, causing a year-on-year drop in Apple's share of a growing smartphone industry boosted by the rise of top Chinese mobile manufacturers breaking out into neighboring markets.

[snip]

[snip]

Article Link: iPhone Sales Flat in Q1 2017 as Chinese Phone Makers Increase Global Market Share

You can say anything you want with numbers:

"Apple share is down, Samsung is the top cell phone provider."

or

"Apple sales remain flat on a relatively modest iPhone 7 update in advance of an anticipated major iPhone "8" update, and Samsung sales fall 4%. Market expands on low cost Chinese OEM phone sales, leaving Samsung and Apple with smaller market shares."

Lies, damn lies, statistics. - SLC (sounds like punk, but it's not)

 

[dampfnudel]

The pressure is on Apple to come up with something big this year and hopefully to keep the price within reason. Otherwise, we'll be in a similar boat next year at this time.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

This isn't competition when you have someone else's knowledge handed to you as apposed to working for it they we did.

I new iPhone is due out soon. This is the phone that innovated it all.

 

[Abazigal]

We all know how it will play out.

Do we really have to play this game every time there's a new Apple product?

"It won't sell."

… product sells out in hours …

"Apple are deliberately holding supply back."

… sales figures show they sold a metric crapton …

"It's only the loyal fanboys that bought them."

… next quarter shows sales growth …

"We've reached saturation point."

… continued sales growth …

… repeat for the next X years …

*sigh*