The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals a mixed performance for iOS in the three months ending November 2017. Despite new handset releases including the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, iOS share fell by 0.6 percentage points across the big five European markets to 23.9% and by 3.8 percentage points in the USA to 39.8%. In contrast, iOS performance in urban China continues to impress, gaining 4.6 percentage points over the same time period to give it a market share of almost 25%.
Dominic Sunnebo, Global Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said in a statement, “On the surface Apple’s share figures for the three months to November struggle to impress, but taking into account the staged releases of the new iPhone 8 and iPhone X there are some strong performances. In Great Britain, Apple achieved its highest share in more than three years in the month of November, taking it to 49.4% and easily regaining the number one sales position from Samsung. The iPhone X was the best-selling model in Great Britain in November, with a 14.4% share of sales, though as the most expensive mass-market smartphone currently available it remains to be seen how long it can maintain this momentum at its current price point of £999.”
In the USA, the iPhone X was outsold by the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in the month of November but did round off the top three best-selling models for the month, easily beating the top Samsung model, the Galaxy S8, which is in sixth position.
Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
The iPhone X was the top selling Smartphone in Japan in November, commanding an 18.2% share, closely followed by the iPhone 8 at 17.2% share. Meanwhile, in urban China, demand for the iPhone X has exceeded all expectations, as Dominic Sunnebo said, “Apple was riding on the back of some momentum before the iPhone X release but demand for latest model in urban China has been staggering given its price point. Apple is now back on form – the iPhone X was the top selling model in urban China in November, with a market share of 6.0%. Unlike in Europe and the US, where the vast majority of new early iPhone X sales came from existing Apple smartphone owners, in urban China there are significant numbers of Huawei, Xiaomi and Samsung customers switching to the new iPhone models, which they deem a cut above the rest.”
Source: Kantar Worldpanel ComTech
MacDailyNews Note: In the countries covered, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were released on September 22, 2017 and iPhone X was released on November 3, 2017.
First release bump in sales? Who could have predicted? I am more interested in sustained sales over months and years, not what happens over thirty days.
Your statement certainly seems reasonable at face value. However, based on your less-than-stellar reputation on this forum as a doomsayer, the implication is that you expect sales to be subpar in the coming months.
I disagree. As in past years, I strongly believe that you will observe sustained sales consistent with historical seasonal variations. There is every reason to expect that trend to continue and no serious basis to expect otherwise.
Year after year, the naysayers who actually bet against Apple consistently lose. So go ahead, put your money where your mouth is…
Your opinion isn’t worth spit.
Then stop dribbling.
What about all the articles saying iPhone sales were lackluster and weak and there wasn’t even the slightest chance of an iPhone supercycle? However, not one word was ever said about Galaxy S8 sales being good or bad.
It’s really hard to believe anything that’s said on the internet because everything seems to be based on rumors and speculation. Anyway, Android smartphones still seem to be globally drubbing iPhones and that’s all that matters to Wall Street. There’s far too many negative numbers YoY for iPhone sales.
I don’t know what Apple needs to do as a company to prove itself to investors but I wish they’d do it quickly.
Apple has proven itself many times over to investors by producing consistently excellent results for a decade or more. What Apple has failed to do is to prove itself to analysts who still interpret every move that Apple makes as a mis-step.
It can be difficult to filter out the FUD. One of the key steps is so assess the source of the information and the motivation behind the source. I am convinced that most of the rumors arise from three sources:
(1) People/companies manipulating a stock for profit in a way that is difficult to trace
(2) People/companies who profit from lots of attention (click-bait)
(3) People/companies who benefit from churn/volatility and make money on stock trades regardless of the direction of the market. They thrive on activity.
There is also a smaller, but non-negligible share of BS being spouted by people who just like to be noticed. They don’t really care if the information is real.
Even after filtering out all of that crap (if you can), there is still the possibility that reputable people are making incorrect conclusions based on misinterpretation of data and/or incomplete data. You just do your best.
One thing is for sure – the high-level summaries are almost always misleading because the actual conditions are nearly always too complex to sum up in a brief statement. Almost every time that you did into the details you will find a lot more gray than black and white.