iPhone Sales Stall Despite Global Smartphone Market Recovery

[MacRumors]

Apple experienced minimal iPhone growth in 2024 despite a significant rebound in the global smartphone market, according to new data published by IDC. Worldwide smartphone shipments increased 6.2% to reach 1.24 billion units, but iPhone shipments grew by just 0.4% during the same period.

The tepid performance underlines Apple's challenges in key markets like China, where domestic rivals are gaining ground through aggressive pricing and technological innovation. Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi and Huawei are investing heavily in hardware and software development as well as custom processor designs, with Huawei recently launching its new Mate 70 phone featuring its own home-grown chips.

Elsewhere, Android device makers collectively drove the market's recovery, achieving 7.6% growth mostly through strong performance in emerging markets across Asia Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. These manufacturers appear to have succeeded by offering more affordable devices, with an average selling price of $295 compared to Apple's $1,000-plus premium iPhone positioning.

Despite the slower growth, Apple maintained its position as the industry's profit leader through its premium pricing strategy. According to IDC, the Apple's prospects may improve in 2025, with a forecast of 3.1% growth for iOS devices compared to 1.7% for Android smartphones.

Overall, the broader smartphone market's recovery was driven by pent-up demand for device upgrades in regions with lower smartphone penetration. However, IDC analysts noted that even heavily marketed features like generative AI have failed to significantly impact consumer demand or drive early upgrades, which doesn't bode well for the impact of Apple Intelligence on iPhone sales going into 2025.

Article Link: iPhone Sales Stall Despite Global Smartphone Market Recovery

 

[MrMaxwell]

Maybe Apple will realise that innovation is more than just a new shade of gold...

 

[Havalo]

Well, there wasn't a massive difference between iPhone 15 and 16 apart from a dedicated camera button which no one asked for. Or the delayed AI fiasco.

We need, as our American cousins say, something tangible that's worthy of upgrade. This will be unpopular opinion but there is nothing incitcing me to upgrade from my iPhone 13 Mini.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Maybe Apple will realise that innovation is more than just a new shade of gold...

There really isn't much to do in terms of form factor, materials, or hardware performance at this late stage in smartphone development.

However, despite chips not advancing as fast as they used to, Apple could have reached record iPhone sales if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI as they have been:

Although the hype AI is getting is not fully warranted, and very disappointing on some level, the average consumer would want to buy a new iPhone if it came with features like an LLM Siri and a fully fledged suite of high quality generative AI features.

But Apple has just been too slow and the quality of its AI tools is not impressive.

I'm still convinced that Apple didn't add all the value to the $799 iPhone just to have it support AI in the near future, but much more to give buyers a reason to upgrade despite getting next to no AI while other brands are 2-3 years ahead of Apple.

 

[kcslc]

Well, there wasn't a massive difference between iPhone 15 and 16 apart from a dedicated camera button which no one asked for. Or the delayed AI fiasco.

We need, as our American cousins say, something tangible that's worthy of upgrade. This will be unpopular opinion but there is nothing incitcing me to upgrade from my iPhone 13 Mini.

Fully agreed. This year was the first year since 2009 when I didn’t get the new iPhone. I’ve had every model since the 3GS. I saw the 16 series and said. Nope. My 15 Pro Max will do just fine another year or two. Maybe three if tariffs are going to happen.

 

[newdeal]

I enabled apple intelligence on my Mac and have yet to figure out a use for it. And I use Chatgpt multiple times per day so you would think I would have a use for something. Apple hasn't had an inspired phone design since the iPhone 4

 

[shadowboi]

I would have upgraded to baseline 16 if it wasn’t ugly on purpose. Also colors suck, same cameras, useless button, slightly better processor. I don’t really see any incentive to get this as my new daily driver. Sadly now I doubt 17 will make things different, only worse as rumors suggest they will now make all iPhones aluminum and my old 11 Pro will look like a premium retro compared to all this “used cola can” aesthetic

 

[jo-1]

Douglas Adams said: "The Macintosh may only have 10% of the market, but it is clearly the top 10%"

We can rephrase that to Apple will always address the top end of the smartphone market and that's good for us all.

I am using iPhones for a decade now and it has been always a flawless experience and a good feeling of the least mistrust to an IT company.

For me it's not about trusting any company in this field but about the least mistrust and that alone is worth the extra spendings and on top used mint condition Apple phones still sell like hot cake after years of using them.

For me and for many anthers a no-brainer.

 

[meetree]

I know! Apple should add a dedicated hardware button specifically for calling AI, just like Logitech did with their mouse.

/s

 

[contacos]

One can only hope Apple learned and isn't repeating the same mistake as Nokia or BlackBerry.

It's comfortable up there but eventually you might miss the curve.

 

[AirpodsNow]

selling more but earning less is not great. I would like to see the margins per price segment and see whether apple is actually positioned in a way that suits their cost and margin structure.

 

[AirpodsNow]

Maybe Apple will realise that innovation is more than just a new shade of gold...

Despite the slower growth, Apple maintained its position as the industry's profit leader through its premium pricing strategy. According to IDC, the Apple's prospects may improve in 2025, with a forecast of 3.1% growth for iOS devices compared to 1.7% for Android smartphones.

 

[xmarcuswildx]

Market recovery? Sorry what.

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Well, there wasn't a massive difference between iPhone 15 and 16 apart from a dedicated camera button which no one asked for. Or the delayed AI fiasco.

We need, as our American cousins say, something tangible that's worthy of upgrade. This will be unpopular opinion but there is nothing incitcing me to upgrade from my iPhone 13 Mini.

Assuming that Apple will deliver a great AI experience, it's just not available to anyone yet and most likely won't even give us what we we're promised at WWDC 2024 until iPhones 17 or 18 are out.

Or, the features might technically get launched before iPhones 17 drop. But they'll need so much testing and fixing that they're not worth using until a good while after iPhones 17 or 18 are out.

I'd be very surprised if Apple Intelligence is fully completed and out before September 2025.

 

[robvalentine]

People are more cost sensitive now, and Androids do what iPhones do for normal consumers for less money, especially when the monthly cost on contracts are higher for 36 month contracts than they used to be on 24 month contracts, at least in the UK. The only apple intelligence feature that will be useful for me is a less rubbish siri.

 

[TallManNY]

I've asked my wife if she wants to upgrade her 13Pro to a 16Pro and the response was "meh". I'd take over her 13Pro to replace my XS which is my work phone (I do work/life balance by not having work email and apps on my primary phone). But even with a new 16Pro resulting in basically two upgrades, we still haven't bothered to pull the trigger. The AI features that I got on my 15Pro are not the slightest bit compelling so far either. Is three year upgrade cycle the new two year upgrade cycle? Maybe.

 

[AirpodsNow]

People are more cost sensitive now, and Androids do what iPhones do for normal consumers for less money, especially when the monthly cost on contracts are higher for 36 month contracts than they used to be on 24 month contracts, at least in the UK. The only apple intelligence feature that will be useful for me is a less rubbish siri.

Overall, the broader smartphone market's recovery was driven by pent-up demand for device upgrades in regions with lower smartphone penetration

It seems no (much) change in developed countries. But demand was driven by delayed buying (keep phone longer, that’s how I read pent-up) in countries where not everyone has a smartphone yet. Which are not countries in the west or USA.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

There really isn't much to do in terms of form factor, materials, or hardware performance at this late stage in smartphone development.

However, despite chips not advancing as fast as they used to, Apple could have reached record iPhone sales if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI as they have been:

Although the hype AI is getting is not fully warranted, and very disappointing on some level, the average consumer would want to buy a new iPhone if it came with features like an LLM Siri and a fully fledged suite of high quality generative AI features.

But Apple has just been too slow and the quality of its AI tools is not impressive.

I'm still convinced that Apple didn't add all the value to the $799 iPhone just to have it support AI in the near future, but much more to give buyers a reason to upgrade despite getting next to no AI while other brands are 2-3 years ahead of Apple.

I don't think that Apple AI, no matter how good or when it will be (or was) released, would have made any difference...AI is exciting to IT folks, and that's about it, and besides there are a dozen AI services that can be quickly installed on any iPhone, right now, from the app store. Phones are commodity items now, and people just aren't as interested in the new tech as they used to be. Their iPhone works, they don't think about it much, and don't care to replace them until they need to. There is zero pent-up demand (in the US).

Buying a new phone now is about as exciting as buying new tires. I'm happy to have them, and it's nice to be riding on a new set, but it's not exciting, not interesting, and not worth upgrading because a new design or feature is available.

I upgraded my 13 Pro to a 16 Pro, only because my employer paid for it. It has been the most boring, lateral upgrade of any tech in recent memory. A month later, it feels exactly the same as my 13 Pro did. The usb-c is nice, however.

 

[ifxf]

There really isn't much to do in terms of form factor, materials, or hardware performance at this late stage in smartphone development.

However, despite chips not advancing as fast as they used to, Apple could have reached record iPhone sales if they hadn't been as slow to announce and rollout AI as they have been:

Although the hype AI is getting is not fully warranted, and very disappointing on some level, the average consumer would want to buy a new iPhone if it came with features like an LLM Siri and a fully fledged suite of high quality generative AI features.

But Apple has just been too slow and the quality of its AI tools is not impressive.

I'm still convinced that Apple didn't add all the value to the $799 iPhone just to have it support AI in the near future, but much more to give buyers a reason to upgrade despite getting next to no AI while other brands are 2-3 years ahead of Apple.

AI is 95% hype. How else you do explain Apple’s image removal is touted as AI while Google has had this feature for years and it is not AI. The Google feature is better since it doesn’t have a safety lock out (maybe that is the AI part).

 

[CarAnalogy]

Of course generative AI hasn't driven sales. Let's look at some facts...

People have been using ChatGPT on their iPhones since 2023.

Apple Intelligence is limited to the most recent model phones only.

Yet the people using those older phones know full well the phones are fully capable of ChatGPT. (Yes, yes, private on-device blah blah nobody cares about this distinction when there is such a huge functionality gap.)

But Apple Intelligence isn't even fully available, especially the one part that actually competes with the part of ChatGPT people actually use. And even then, it will fall back to ChatGPT.

And it won't even be available until next year, and ChatGPT is already miles ahead.

Also, their commercials for Apple Intelligence are perhaps the worst they have ever made.

Why would anyone expect AI to drive sales? In fact it's remarkable it even grew .6%

 

[kalsta]

Here's why iPhone sales growth is slower:

These manufacturers appear to have succeeded by offering more affordable devices, with an average selling price of $295 compared to Apple's $1,000-plus premium iPhone positioning.

And here's why Apple won't do anything about it:

Despite the slower growth, Apple maintained its position as the industry's profit leader through its premium pricing strategy.

I only buy second hand iPhones these days, but that's fine—I'm very happy with my iPhone 12 Pro.

 

[Jmausmuc]

Apple Intelligence so far seems like a bigger flop then even Apple Vision Pro.

I am a heavy AI user and use both Gemeni and OpenAI daily and find them quite useful (though still overhyped in many ways).

The only useful feature in Apple Intelligence so far is the notification summaries and even there I have sometimes seem it omit the most important information or give pretty bad summaries.

Android has way better AI features and they are also available worldwide and don’t require workarounds.

I knew apple was somewhat behind in AI but actually seeing apple intelligence in practice it seems to be much worse then I had expected.


I also don’t see why anyone would still pay $600+ for a phone with a 60hz screen. Coming from a 15 pro my gfs iPhone 16 always makes me think she’s got low power mode turned on.

 

[ab2c4]

The economy isn't the greatest, iphone prices are high, and I think a lot of people are tired of the same design for five phones in a row now with the 12 through 16.

 

[cgs1xx]

At some point they'll have to start putting the prices down.
I mean, there has been no significant design change in years and perhaps most people don't care about AI features... there are so many times we can buy the same phone every year.

 

[RedWeasel]

Maybe Apple will realise that innovation is more than just a new shade of gold...

You're confusing innovation with courage, sir.