Although Apple no longer provides sales data on individual product lines, new estimates from IDC based off of Apple’s earnings call have shed some light on iPhone sales in 2019.
According to their report, Apple shipped 36.4 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2019, a figure that’s down 30.2 percent on the 52.2 million iPhones shipped in Q1 of 2018.
Apple now the third-biggest smartphone vendor
Data shows that Apple is now the third biggest smartphone vendor in the world behind Samsung and Chinese Huawei, who in the same period shipped 71.9 million and 59.1 million smartphones respectively, considerably more than Apple’s 35.4 million iPhone shipments.
The figures give Apple an 11.7% smartphone market share in the first quarter of 2019, down from its 15.7% market share in the same period last year.
Samsung also shaved some of its market share from 2018, dropping from 23.5% to 23.1%, whilst Huawei jumped from 11.8% to 19%, and VIVO jumped from 5.6% to 7.5% market share from Q1 2018 to Q1 2019.
Speaking about their report, IDC said: “Apple had a challenging first quarter as shipments dropped to 36.4 million units representing a staggering 30.2% decline from last year. The iPhone struggled to win over consumers in most major markets as competitors continue to eat away at Apple’s market share.
‘Light at the end of the tunnel’
“Price cuts in China throughout the quarter along with favorable trade-in deals in many markets were still not enough to encourage consumers to upgrade. Combine this with the fact that most competitors will shortly launch 5G phones and new foldable devices, the iPhone could face a difficult remainder of the year,” IDC added.
“Despite the lackluster quarter, Apple’s strong installed base along with its recent agreement with Qualcomm will be viewed as the light at the end of the tunnel heading into 2020 for the Cupertino-based giant.”
The news comes on the same day as Apple announced it generated $31.05 billion from its iPhone range, down from 2018’s figures. The company did, however, report record growth in its services division, generating $11.45 billion as it adds new services like Apple News+, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and the Apple Card to its roster.
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