IPhone X becomes world’s best selling smartphone for Q1 2018

Despite fears of expensive pricing, Apple iPhone X was the world’s best-selling smartphone model, shipping an impressive 16 million units during the quarter. The new iPhone X was the most popular in the quarter, according to Apple. However, mobile technology has advanced so much over the years compared to the cell phones of yore and they keep getting more powerful.

Smartphone sales fell 3 percent in the March quarter compared with a year earlier, as consumers in developed countries such as the USA and China balk at upgrading to more expense phones. Shipments have declined compared with previous year and the numbers are some of the lowest since 2013. The average selling price of smartphones is increasing, too, in emerging markets with users upgrading from entry level to the mid smartphone segment.

“More importantly, in a market as complex as China, where worldwide brands are finding it tough to combat native vendors in terms of volume, Apple has been beating local players by growing its ASP and building out other revenue streams from the Mac, App Store and accessories, effectively capitalising on its deep-pocketed installed base”.

From January through April of 2017, smartphone shipments amounted to 344.4 million units, while the same period this year amounted to 334.3 million units, a 2.9 percent decline. “Apple’s ultra-premium iPhone X is proving relatively popular in some markets like China and the U.S., while there remains scope for additional expansion in emerging regions such as India and Africa”, said Neil Mawston, Executive Director, Strategy Analytics.

The only handset from the smartphone market leader as per IDC, Samsung, is its big screen flagship device from the current year Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus, which ranks sixth in the list of world’s top-selling smartphones globally. Xiaomi has found the 4th position by beating Oppo. Collectively, Apple today made four of the world’s six most popular smartphone models. Huawei is trying to mold itself to offer midrange budget smartphones to the users and to create a strong market share. Samsung replaced Apple to take the top spot once again, while Apple took the second place. Google has achieved its highest ever quarterly sales share of 3.4%, up from 1.7% a year earlier, thanks to the success of its Pixel line. “However, a return to double-digit growth will likely be hard for these two brands, without worldwide expansion beyond Southeast Asia”.

Xiaomi, founded in early 2010, first shot to prominence in China by selling nearly all of its phones online at razor-thin profit margins-a tactic enabled by avoiding costs like rent and sales commissions, and by saving money on commercials. Canalys estimates that Xiaomi shipped 28.1 million smartphones in Q1, of which almost 57 percent outside its home market China.

The mobile phone has come a long way over the past few years and it represents one of the industries that has experienced super-fast advancements. Xiaomi also recently announced PCB assembly in India, becoming the second vendor after Samsung to do so. OPPO has also pruned some of its retail partnerships to focus on those with higher contribution to sales. This was partly due to an increase in feature phone shipments by some key brands such as Nokia HMD and Reliance Jio who both saw YoY growth.

Company shipments are branded device shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors. “The city’s red-hot IPO market usually sees offerings oversubscribed – sometimes by hundreds of times – as investors borrow heavily to place orders”.