Following Apple’s earnings release yesterday, Kantar today is out with its newest data for the quarter ending in March 2018. Kantar’s data offers an interesting perspective on how Apple’s numbers for the quarter compare to other manufacturers, as well as how iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus sales stack up to iPhone X…
For the quarter, Apple’s share of smartphone sales in the United States held steady compared to last year, increasing from 59 percent to 59.1 percent. In China, however, Apple accelerated at a fast pace this time around.
According to Kantar, the iPhone X was the best-selling iPhone in urban China, increasing Apple’s share of quarterly sales by a whopping 22.1 percent. That data echoes similar sentiments Tim Cook made during Apple’s earnings call, as we noted earlier.
On a broader scale, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus combined outsold the iPhone X. This shouldn’t necessarily come as too big of a surprise seeing that it’s a combination of two different models. Kantar predicts that this can be attributed to early iPhone X demand being fulfilled and users gravitating towards the lower-priced iPhone 8:
Tim Cook touted yesterday that the iPhone X was the top selling iPhone model each week during the March quarter, but Kantar’s data indicates that it wasn’t able to surpass the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus when they are combined. Cook attempted to dispel speculation about poor iPhone X sales repeatedly during the call, calling the device a “beloved” product.
The full Kantar release can be seen below. What do you make of speculation that the iPhone X hasn’t been as successful as Apple might have originally hoped? Let us know down in the comments!
More AAPL earnings coverage:
- Apple announces Q2 2018 revenue of $61.1b: 52.2m iPhones, 9.1m iPads, 4.07m Macs
- Apple announces new $100 billion share buy-back program, increases dividend by 16%
- Live blog: Apple’s fiscal year Q2 2018 earnings call
- Tim Cook: Wearables business hits Fortune 300 size, Apple Pay coming to 3 new countries soon
- Tim Cook downplays reports of slowing iPhone X demand, calls it a ‘beloved’ product
- AAPL up 5% following earnings as investors respond to Q3 guidance and optimism over 2018 iPhones
- China now as big a market for Apple as Europe after strong growth & iPhone X success
- Comment: Apple saying nothing about HomePod sales isn’t a problem … yet
- Opinion: Earnings show that the iPhone X was a huge success, even if Apple hoped for more
Xiaomi takes aim at Europe
The latest smartphone OS data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reveals that in the three months ending March 2018, competition within Android continued to intensify as Huawei and Xiaomi expanded their global presence. Meanwhile, iOS share has held steady across the big five markets in Europe and the USA in contrast to continuing growth in urban China.
Dominic Sunnebo, Global Director for Kantar Worldpanel ComTech comments, “With Huawei’s entry to the USA market effectively blocked by the government the business has increased the focus and resources it is aiming at Europe. Despite the well-reviewed Huawei P20 flagship not being released until April, the results are already showing. Huawei has managed to significantly increase its presence across the big five European markets and it now holds almost a fifth of sales in the three months to March 2018 – 19.0%, up from 14.4% a year earlier. Most encouraging for Huawei are the signs that progress is finally being made in Great Britain, with share rising to 5.9% – it needs to conquer this market if it’s going to realise its ambition of becoming a premium choice for consumers.”
The top three brands in the big five European markets, Samsung, Apple and Huawei, made up 71% of smartphone sales in the latest quarter, but newcomer Xiaomi has quietly taken fourth spot, with a 4.4% share. This is made all the more impressive given that growth has come predominantly from just two markets, Spain and Italy.
Dominic Sunnebo continues, “Despite being a household name in China and India, Xiaomi has turned its attention to Europe late, though it has quickly proven to be a worthy opponent. In Asia, Xiaomi’s business model has been focused online and while this remains an important factor in its European model it is local partnerships with key players like Media Markt, Media World and Carrefour that has allowed it to accelerate sales so quickly.”
In the USA, Apple and Samsung have managed to eke out year-on-year share gains, up 0.1% and 1.4% respectively. 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. ZTE, also under pressure from the US government, saw its sales share fall to 2.5% in the latest quarter.
In the USA and the European top five markets, Apple iPhone 8 sold in marginally higher numbers than the flagship iPhone X, indicating that as early iPhone X demand is fulfilled the price difference between the two devices is playing a notable role in consumers’ choices. In urban China, iPhone X continues to be not only Apple’s top performing model but the best-selling model in the market, helping Apple share to increase strongly to 22.1%.
