Apple’s iPhone sales have fallen by between two and seven percent, according to analysts.
According to Canalys, who reviewed Apple’s latest earnings report, the company has seen shipments fall by more than 7% in the third quarter of 2019.
“Apple’s shipments fell 7% to 43.5 million units in Q3, an improvement on the double-digit declines in Q1 and Q2 2019.”
They add that Apple’s new low-cost iPhone could help the company recoup some of their losses and tap into price-conscious markets where, traditionally, Apple has lagged behind.
“Apple devices do not have 5G and it will have to contend with that in early 2020.
“It will miss out on heavy operator investment in 5G marketing and promotions, and the wide expectation for Apple to launch a 5G iPhone in September 2020 may convince some customers to delay purchasing, to ensure their device is future-proof,” said a Canalys spokesperson.
“Apple will need an unconventional strategy to keep its volume high in the early stages of next year, which makes rumors of an upcoming entry-level iPhone launch in H1 2020 unsurprising.”
Other analysts thought differently of Apple’s latest earnings report, with Strategy Analytics suggesting that iPhone sales had dropped by around three percent, rather than seven.
“Apple iPhone shipments fell 3 percent annually from 46.9 million units worldwide in Q3 2018 to 45.6 million in Q3 2019,” they said in their analysis.
“Despite the slight decline, this was actually Apple’s best growth performance since last year.”
The firm added that Apple’s new cheaper iPhone 11 – the successor to the iPhone XR and the new entry-level iPhone – will help sales in the coming months.
“We believe Apple is stabilizing,” said the company, “due to cheaper iPhone 11 pricing and healthier demand across Asia and the United States.”
IHS also shared its insights into Apple iPhone sales and suggested that the company had seen a 2.1% fall in sales, much lower than the seven percent suggested by Canalys.
“Apple shipped a total of 45.9 million iPhones during the third quarter. This was a 2.1 percent decrease from the same period in 2018 and continued Apple’s unit decline for a fourth consecutive quarter,” IHS said.
“However, Apple was able to limit the rate of unit volume decline to single digits.”
IHS added that Apple’s new pricing policy would have an impact on sales.
“Sales of new iPhones in the fourth quarter are expected to increase year-on-year, thanks to the reduced entry-level price of iPhone 11 to less than $700.”
“In addition, a $150 price reduction of existing models is expected to contribute overall shipment volume growth in the fourth quarter.
“Apple’s new pricing policy is intended to expand the addressable market for Apple’s content services now rolling out to consumers.”
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