Canalys: Apple Shipped 14.6 Million iPhones in North America Last Quarter

Apple shipped 14.6 million iPhones in North America last quarter, according to Canalys. Smartphone shipments reportedly dropped 18% year over year in Q1 to a five year low of 36.4 million units, down from a high of 44.4 million in Q1 2018.

This is the steepest fall ever recorded, due to a lackluster performance by Apple and the absence of ZTE. But Apple remained the clear leader, despite suffering a regional decline of 19%. It shipped more than 4.5 million iPhone XR handsets in the quarter, while Samsung shipped more than 2.0 million each of its Galaxy S10+ and S10e models.




Apple is said to have maintained a 40% share of the North American market, helped by carrier and retail discounts on older models like the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7, as well as trade-in promotions.

“Apple’s fall in Q1 followed particularly high shipments of flagship iPhones in the previous quarter,” said Thielke. “But there was a disconnect between channel orders and consumer demand, which then caused early shipments in Q1 to be challenging for Apple. But moving into March, we did see an uptick in iPhone XR shipments, an early sign that these challenges may be starting to ease at home. Apple has shown how vital trade-ins have become by moving the mechanism to the front and center of its ordering process, and it now frequently uses the net price in its flagship iPhone marketing. The momentum of trade-in promotions in Q2 and Q3 will determine the extent to which Apple can counter negative market forces, such as longer device lifecycles. But the key challenge in coming months remains that its latest iPhones are just not different enough, though new ones are on the way. For its performance to improve in 2020, Apple will need to emphasize radical new features that are most likely to impress consumers.”

More details in the full report linked below...

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