When Apple announced its Q3 earnings last week we learned that the company’s iPhone revenue dropped, but the company doesn’t share data on unit sales for its products. IHS Markit is out today with its report on the overall smartphone market including its estimates on iPhone shipments.
Last week we saw estimates from Strategy Analytics and Counterpoint Research pinning iPhone shipments as down 12% and 11%, respectively, YoY for Apple’s Q3. IHS Markit’s numbers are in the same ballpark but a bit worse pegging iPhone shipments at 35.3 million, down 14.6% YoY for the quarter.
IHS’ data shows the entire smartphone market down almost 4% on shipments and like Strategy Analytics and Counterpoint, this latest report shows Apple as the only company in the top five smartphone vendors to have seen a YoY decline for the quarter. IHS’ estimates put Apple in fourth place for the overall smartphone market, being beat out by Huawei, Oppo, and Samsung.
IHS Markit’s Jusy Hong and Gerrit Schneemann attribute the slowing iPhone shipments to high prices for the flagship models and a lack of price elasticity in two- to three-year-old iPhones. They predict iPhone shipments will continue to decline.
Apple continues to be more aggressive with its promotional activities, but still faces two key challenges: super-premium pricing for its latest models and insufficient price elasticity in its older models to drive significant additional shipments of two-to-three-year-old devices.
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