iPhone X tops smartphone charts in slumping European smartphone market
While smartphone shipments overall dropped 6.3 percent in Europe in first quarter, Apple shipped 10.2 million units to the region representing a 5.4 percent year-over-year decline.
Overall smartphone sales dropped 6.3 percent year over year in Europe in the first quarter, according to research firm Canalys, which described it as "the biggest ever drop in a single quarter." Apple was the #2 smartphone vendor in Europe for the quarter, with a 22 percent market share. While the iPhone X dropped 25 percent in shipments from the previous quarter, Canalys called it "the best-shipping smartphone in the region." And Canalys also said that 25 percent of iPhone shipments in the quarter are of models that are over two years old.
Samsung was tops in overall sales with 15.2 million and a 33.1 percent market share, although Samsung shipments plunged 15.4 percent. Huawei was third, followed by Xiaomi and Nokia. Canalys also said that in the last four years, the top three of the iPhone, all Samsung devices and Huawei's phones has gone from 61 percent of the market to 71.4 percent, as Sony, LG and other established brands have trailed off.
"This is a new era for smartphones in Europe," Ben Stanton, Analyst at Canalys, said as part of the release. "The few remaining growth markets are not enough to offset the saturated ones. We are moving from a growth era to a cyclical era. This presents a brand-new challenge to the incumbents, and we expect several smaller brands to leave the market in the coming years."
The shipments were down especially in Western Europe, with double-digit declines in the U.K., France and Germany, although shipments surged by more than 25 percent in Russia.
Apple, according to its earnings last week, sold 52.2 million iPhones in the March quarter. Assuming Canalys is using the same three-month period, that means about one-tenth of the worldwide iPhone market was in Europe.
Overall smartphone sales dropped 6.3 percent year over year in Europe in the first quarter, according to research firm Canalys, which described it as "the biggest ever drop in a single quarter." Apple was the #2 smartphone vendor in Europe for the quarter, with a 22 percent market share. While the iPhone X dropped 25 percent in shipments from the previous quarter, Canalys called it "the best-shipping smartphone in the region." And Canalys also said that 25 percent of iPhone shipments in the quarter are of models that are over two years old.
Samsung was tops in overall sales with 15.2 million and a 33.1 percent market share, although Samsung shipments plunged 15.4 percent. Huawei was third, followed by Xiaomi and Nokia. Canalys also said that in the last four years, the top three of the iPhone, all Samsung devices and Huawei's phones has gone from 61 percent of the market to 71.4 percent, as Sony, LG and other established brands have trailed off.
"A new era"
"This is a new era for smartphones in Europe," Ben Stanton, Analyst at Canalys, said as part of the release. "The few remaining growth markets are not enough to offset the saturated ones. We are moving from a growth era to a cyclical era. This presents a brand-new challenge to the incumbents, and we expect several smaller brands to leave the market in the coming years."
The shipments were down especially in Western Europe, with double-digit declines in the U.K., France and Germany, although shipments surged by more than 25 percent in Russia.
Apple, according to its earnings last week, sold 52.2 million iPhones in the March quarter. Assuming Canalys is using the same three-month period, that means about one-tenth of the worldwide iPhone market was in Europe.
Comments
Huawei up over 30% and without including P20 series phones or next week's Honor 10 launch. They look good for the current quarter.
More worrying are the sharp drops in three of Apple's major European markets.
I'd also like to see a full screen SE-sized iPhone launch at some point. In addition to a somewhat updated home button style SE.
I think iPhones are still too expensive. Everyone I've spoken to about the X says it's way too expensive, and people already think the non-flagships are pretty steep. I have plenty Apple-toting friends, and I am a self-confessed fanboy. But even I can see Apple gear really is getting very expensive. Cook's Apple seems to be all about raising prices, I don't know any product that's gone down in price in Cook's reign. The increasing service revenue should be offsetting the phone prices, not adding to them. Unfortunately this is reminiscent of the early 90's Apple; ballooning SKU numbers, not giving people what they want, software and hardware bugs creeping in whilst prices edge up. Apple's obviously in a much better position now, but even so. I don't want history to repeat itself.
On the other hand, Russia is interesting.
Hence, while Apple showed a 5% decrease in units, I'm guessing that their ASP actually increases. You do know that generating revenue is what companies do? Seems like a proper strategy for Apple.
Gee, it would be a big deal if iPhone shipment decreased 15%, but it didn't happen. That was Samsung's decrease. Apple was only down 5% in sales, not even untypical for this quarter.
So, that means that 75% were new phones? I'm guessing those are X, 8, and 8 Plus. All very high ASP.
But you don't like to talk about ASP. For you, it's all about Huawei share growth.
The iPhone X has only been available for two full quarters. I think it's completely logical that it sold less in its second pop and even less in its third pop. Don't you see it that way or do you think it will somehow buck the trend in Q3? It definitely puts your 'popular' opinion into context.
That's not to take anything away from it. It's being realistic.
On the other hand, the two year old phones are still pulling in 25% of sales (in Europe, not underdeveloped areas).
That 25% will pull down on your ASP line though and probably overall industry profits if these numbers are representative.
It's basically what the report is saying.
Apple's quality is pretty much as good as it needs to be, but I'm concerned that the very high pricing is going to end up being reflected in reduced unit sales if they keep up the trend. Clearly that won't affect the profitability - at their volumes, that's not going to happen, but it will still reflect in overall market stats.
Incidentally, the situation is the same with other manufacturers - the Samsung S9 is also hideously expensive as well. At some point the market is going to squeeze back.
iPhone shipments in Europe were 10.2 million. That’s about one-fifth of the worldwide iPhone market. I think.
Apple doesn't care what people people buy so long as it's a iPhone. Apple makes even more money from people in the services area. Apple is doing just fine.