iPhone X saves Apple some Pride
A worried last quarter witnessed a turn of events for Apple. All thanks to the iPhone X that was 2017’s top selling premium segment phone in India. Apple’s revenues climbed 13 % to $88.3 billion during the period.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook was quoted saying, “iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top-selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November.”
Is Apple facing problems?
The iPhone maker witnessed a fall in year-on-year shipments. iPhone shipped 77.3 million units in this quarter. That is a decline of 1.3 % from last year’s Q4. Total units shipped in 2017 were 215.8 million. That is merely a 0.2 % gain compared to last year.
iPhone 8 has been a thought for concern. Apple shipments saw a 31% downfall on Y-o-Y analysis. This is mainly because iphone 8 has failed.
Apple isn’t coming up with the kind of innovations it used to deliver. Customers don’t see something worth upgrading to. They tend to wait for another update, thus reducing sales of the new versions.
Is rising competition threatening Apple?
OnePlus has been growing fast in the premium segment. A staggering 343% growth during Q4 2017 i.e. a 25% market share. Samsung is behind Oneplus at no.3.
Other brands existing in this segment are Google, Xiaomi that are big names , Xiomi has seen a very steep growth this year and is gaining popularity very rapidly.
Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei are also entering the premium segment.
How is apple planning to Expand?
Apple is focusing on others segment which includes the Apple Watch and Apple TV. These products have witnesses an increase of 36 % in sales at $5.5 billion in 2017.
Apple is also generating revenue from the App Store, iCloud, Apple Music, iTunes and other content and services that people tap into using its devices.
Still iPhone’s are the cash cow of Apple. They need to be more innovative in the future.
