Late-Arriving iPhone X Costs Apple Market Share

Consumer Electronics

Published: December 5, 2017 10:00 am

Last Updated: April 28, 2020 12:36 am

The decision by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) to delay shipments of its flagship iPhone X until November cost the company share in many of its key markets. Share declined by 7.6% in the United States for the three-month period ending in October and by 8.5% in Great Britain.

The data were reported Tuesday by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, based on research by the firm’s global consumer panel.

Market share declined by 6.9% in Japan, 1.6% in Germany, 0.6% in France and 0.5% in Italy. Share rose 0.5% in China and 4.4% in Spain.

Alphabet Inc.’s (NASDAQ: GOOGL) Android operating system gained 4.3 percentage points in the big five European markets, 8.2% in the United States and 7.5% in Japan. Kantar attributed that partly to a continued decline in share for Microsoft Corp.’s (NASDAQ: MSFT) Windows Phone operating system.

Kantar global business unit director Dominic Sunnebo said:

It was somewhat inevitable that Apple would see volume share fall once we had a full comparative month of sales taking into account the non-flagship iPhone 8 vs. the flagship iPhone 7 from 2016. This decrease is significant and puts pressure on the iPhone X to perform. Considering the complete overhaul that the iPhone X offers, consumers may be postponing their purchase decisions until they can test the iPhone X and decide whether the higher price, compared to the iPhone 8, is worth the premium to them.

According to Kantar, as of October 35.3% of Apple’s installed base in Europe and the United States had owned their iPhones for more than two years. That is up from 30.1% in the same period last year. Sunnebo continued:

[The increase in the percentage of older iPhones signifies] considerable pent-up demand within Apple’s base. In pure value terms, it is likely the iPhone X average selling price will more than make up for a dip in sales of older iPhone models.

Apple is among the top five smartphone brands in China that accounted for 91% of sales during the three months ended in October. Samsung’s sales in China have fallen to just 2.2% of the market.

ALSO READ: Motorola Snags More of US Smartphone Market as Apple Dips

Are You Ahead, or Behind on Retirement? (sponsor)

If you’re one of the over 4 Million Americans set to retire this year, you may want to pay attention. Many people have worked their whole lives preparing to retire without ever knowing the answer to the most important question: are you ahead, or behind on your retirement goals?

Don’t make the same mistake. It’s an easy question to answer. A quick conversation with a financial advisor can help you unpack your savings, spending, and goals for your money. With SmartAsset’s free tool, you can connect with vetted financial advisors in minutes.

Why wait? Click here to get started today!