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iPhone X Remained World's Most Popular Smartphone Last Quarter Despite Concerns About Poor Sales

HobeSoundDarryl said:
Record-breaking profitability lauded just days ago (again) seem to imply that there is abundant profit in this very model... the bulk of the record results were attributed to this model driving up average price paid for an iPhone.

So I kind of buy your thinking, but it would seem there's some room for it to shift into former model at lower price and still yield plenty of profit for Apple... especially based on how popular it is per stories like this.
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Yeah, but think of it this way: If they sell 2nd tier LCD models for a decent price, and OLED flagship models at a high price (but hopefully not quite as high), they can steer customers toward the flagships, while keeping the cost of the 2nd tier models down for those who buy them.

tnesmith said:
So... the pre-earnings call cries of doom are proved to be simple blather of know-nothings. Now they'll turn around and say Apple's earnings are a sign of pending bankruptcy. :)
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Again, some of you are getting fooled by the way the numbers have been framed. As mentioned before, reports were that OLED sales were less than expected.

This makes perfect sense as the iPhone X sold way, way less than the iPhone 7 in the corresponding quarter last year, and also significantly less than the iPhone 7 Plus too that quarter. The iPhone 7 sold a whopping 30%+ more units in 2017 Q1 than the iPhone X did in 2018 Q1.

Also, total unit sales of the 7 and 7+ outsold the total unit sales of the X, 8, and 8+.
 
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#Doomed

#Notch

#Overpriced

#SteveWouldHaveNever

These are all the things that came to mind when I read the article.
 
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Coming from a 6, the X is the best thing since sliced bread. Using face ID to sign into app services is a godsend. The only thing I don't like about my X? Too many accidental screenshots and how it doesn't lie flat on a surface.
 
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DipDog3 said:
Same article from last year:
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/05/10/iphone-most-popular-smartphone-q1-2017/

Last year, the iPhone 7 sold 34% more phones than the iPhone X.

Even the iPhone 7 Plus sold 10% more phones then then the iPhone X.

Spin it as you wish, but the sales speak for themselves, the iPhone X, 8 and 8 Plus were all failures.
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There's only a 3% difference in sales figures from 2016's range when you compare to 2017's range, if you also take into account the market shrink.

No, they weren't failures lol. Now that's some spin!
 
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EugW said:
Yeah, but think of it this way: If they sell 2nd tier LCD models for a decent price, and OLED flagship models at a high price (but hopefully not quite as high), they can steer customers toward the flagships.
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Yes, again, that first post was not so much looking for logical replies- more of a thing to consider vs. this story. In other analyst reports where Apple does not rank first, the bulk of us will rip into analysts knowing nothing, how do they get paid for this bull, etc. However, when it's a report where Apple is #1, it's readily accepted at face value. If somebody doesn't offer any counterpoint, it's followed by 200 posts of "see dummies", etc.

In this case, I find the variables interesting. Apparently the head of Apple marketing pushed this story. It strongly implies great seller. We KNOW it's highly profitable. We just heavily gushed about record profits apparently heavily driven by sales of this exact model. And yet we generally seem to believe it will be discontinued less than 1 year after release anyway. That should at least make us think.
 
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The financial analyst community does this every year like clockwork. It's the same players putting out stories to manipulate AAPL stock so they can take advantage of swings.
 
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WWPD said:
Coming from a 6, the X is the best thing since sliced bread. Using face ID to sign into app services is a godsend. The only thing I don't like about my X? Too many accidental screenshots and how it doesn't lie flat on a surface.
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Same here. I'd never go back to a phone navigated with home button clicks. That becomes apparent whenever I use my iPad.

My only nit with the X is the OLED screen. I'd much rather have the LCD screen of my 6+. Aside from that, my X is so much better in so many ways.
 
EugW said:
In other words, don't get fooled by the way the numbers are framed. These numbers IMO do in fact make sense in the context of the industry articles out there about the iPhone X and lower demand than expected for OLED screens, etc.
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What? That the S9 was a poor seller and this is what accounted to Samsung's lackluster OLED displays?
 
I know I'm going to get blasted as a doom-sayer for this, but here's the thing: I still think don't think the iPhone X sold as well as they hoped or it "should" have as Apple's great new phone, here's why...

In the same time period, Apple sold almost as many iPhone 8/8+ (and more than the X if you combine all non-X iPhone sales in that period), and i don't think those purchases cannibalized X sales (very much). Anyone who really wanted an X, got an X. However, and for whatever reason, price/features/missing features, A LOT of people who would normally buy Apple's flagship phone, didn't. They bought the new iterative or older (or not at all) because the latest/"greatest" wasn't appealing at all or enough. That's why I think it still "failed".
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
Yes, again, that first post was not so much looking for logical replies- more of a thing to consider vs. this story. In other analyst reports where Apple does not rank first, the bulk of us will rip into analysts knowing nothing, how do they get paid for this bull, etc. However, when it's a report where Apple is #1, it's readily accepted at face value. If somebody doesn't offer any counterpoint, it's followed by 200 posts of "see dummies", etc.

In this case, I find the variable interesting. Apparently the head of Apple marketing pushed this story. It strongly implies great seller. We KNOW it's highly profitable. We just heavily gushed about record profits apparently heavily driven by sales of this exact model. And yet we generally seem to believe it will be discontinued less than 1 year after release anyway. That should at least make us think.
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It should make us realize that the X is expensive to produce, and in that context it makes perfect sense to discontinue it after one year.

In fact, I would be surprised if the X isn't discontinued this fall. I see absolutely no reason to keep the X around if it's getting replaced by a newer model.
 
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Amacfa said:
Are we looking at the wrong data? I’m pretty sure the plus devices have historically been more popular
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Not at all, the Plus devices always sold less than the 'standard' ones. Only a minority wants a phone that requires two hands to operate it (and is willing to pay the premium). What happened with the 7 Plus is that it sold more than Apple's expectations.
 
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The iPhone X, which was quite a bit newer than the 8 and 8+ during this quarter, only managed to account for about 1/3 of iPhone sales, and about 4.6% of all phone sales.

People keep trying to spin this like it's not a complete failure, but this is a shrinking market, and the iPhone X captured a ridiculously tiny portion of it (4.6%, in its first full quarter of availability!), and somehow this product is supposed to justify nearly half of Apple's value.
 
Rogifan said:
Phil Schiller tweeted out a link to this press release. Odd considering it listed sales estimates by model yet Apple never provides sales data by model. Is Schiller confirming the 16M estimate for iPhone X?
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Not necessarily, just that this report is in agreement with Apple's statements that the iPhone X has been their best-selling iPhone (since it launched).
 
ArtOfWarfare said:
The iPhone X, which was quite a bit newer than the 8 and 8+ during this quarter, only managed to account for about 1/3 of iPhone sales, and about 4.6% of all phone sales.

People keep trying to spin this like it's not a complete failure, but this is a shrinking market, and the iPhone X captured a ridiculously tiny portion of it (4.6%, in its first full quarter of availability!), and somehow this product is supposed to justify nearly half of Apple's value.
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It's not a complete failure. It's actually a good seller, that generates very good revenue. It's just not as much of a success as some had hoped. That's why I'm hopeful (but not confident) Apple might drop the pricing a bit in 2018 for the new model that replaces it.

This would make sense from a marketing sense too, since while the XI would be cheaper than the X, the XI Plus would still be priced very high.
 
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MacRumors said:



iPhone X was the world's most popular smartphone for the second consecutive quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

iphone-x-silver-800x760.jpg

Strategy Analytics estimates that iPhone X shipments totaled 16 million units in the first three months of 2018, making it the best-selling smartphone model during that period, as it was during the final three months of 2017.

"For the second quarter running, the iPhone X remains the world's most popular smartphone model overall, due to a blend of good design, sophisticated camera, extensive apps, and widespread retail presence for the device," said Juha Winter, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics.

strategy-analytics-smartphones-q1-2018.jpg

Source: Strategy Analytics​

The findings contradict a flurry of reports that variously referred to the iPhone X as a failure, disappointment, and flop. Multiple publications said the iPhone X did not live up to the hype due to poor or dull sales.

Much of the doom and gloom centered around Apple suppliers like AMS and TSMC warning about weaker smartphone demand. Apple CEO Tim Cook has dismissed those kind of reports in the past, noting that the company's supply chain is very complex, and that conclusions shouldn't be drawn from singular data points.

Cook in 2013:In reality, Apple accounted for the top four best-selling smartphones worldwide last quarter. iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were the second and third most popular, with an estimated 12.5 million and 8.3 million shipments respectively, while the iPhone 7 took fourth place with around 5.6 million shipments.

The research lines up with Cook's recent revelation that "customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter." He added that the iPhone X is a "Super Bowl winner," even if "you want them to win with a few more points."

Apple on Tuesday reported that it sold 52.2 million iPhones last quarter, but it doesn't break out the sales on a model-by-model basis. However, the average selling price of an iPhone was $728 in the quarter, up from $655 in the year-ago quarter, suggesting the higher-priced iPhone X did sell relatively well.

Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi's budget Redmi 5A was the sole Android smartphone to crack the top five on the best-selling list, with an estimated 5.4 million shipments last quarter. Samsung's new Galaxy S9 Plus, launched in the final month of the quarter, ranked sixth with an estimated 5.3 million shipments.

iPhone X may not have lived up to the hype of some overblown Wall Street expectations, but in the end, the device was a key contributor to Apple's record-breaking revenue in the first half of its 2018 fiscal year.

Article Link: iPhone X Remained World's Most Popular Smartphone Last Quarter Despite Concerns About Poor Sales
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The 8+ is in 3rd place with only 8.3%. The same physical size 8 and X total account for 38.5. Big surprise that people still prefer pocketability over screen size, higher screen resolution and a better camera over the 8.
 
HobeSoundDarryl said:
Quick someone: send this story (back) to Apple. Rumors are heavy that this best seller is going to be the first iPhone in many years to be discontinued less than 1 year after it's release.

Note: that's not putting down the phone or Apple (certainly no cut at "Apple is doomed" either for those that blow posts out of proportion)- just pointing out a conflicting-but-popular rumor that needs to be mentally reconciled with this kind of story. If it's so very popular, why is Apple killing it less than 1 year after release? And what was the last iPhone that Apple killed <1 year after it's release?
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The iPhone 5 was also 'killed' after one year. Keeping the iPhone X around after the X.2 is launched simply doesn't fit into their product & price matrix.
 
Oh so the hedge funds made up false garbage like usual to manipulate the stock and drive prices down to buy low???? IM SHOCKED!

How is that even legal??
 
Rogifan said:
Because it was replaced by the 5S.
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It was replaced by 5C and 5S.

The rest of the time iPhones aren't discontinued but sold at a lower price along side the following year's flagship, and dropped again the next year.

That's why Apple are selling X, 8, 7 and 6S right now.
 
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EugW said:
It's not a complete failure. It's actually a good seller, that generates very good revenue. It's just not as much of a success as some had hoped. That's why I'm hopeful (but not confident) Apple might drop the pricing a bit in 2018 for the new model that replaces it.

This would make sense from a marketing sense too, since while the XI would be cheaper than the X, the XI Plus would still be priced very high.
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When Apple introduced the Plus line of iPhones, sales jumped from 42M quarter to 64M per quarter, Y/Y.

When Apple introduced the X, quarterly iPhone sales fell from 51M (already 20% off their peak) to... well, actually, it rose 2% to 52M.

This is their big recovery? They raised profits per phone by 11% and didn't grow volume at all?
 
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