A new report from the TrendForce estimates that the iPhone production volume for the fourth quarter will reach 81 million units with the iPhone X accounting for 33% of the total. The research group expects a “surge” of iPhone X production that will last through the first half of 2018, which will help Apple unseat Samsung as the world’s largest smartphone maker.
According to TrendForce, Apple managed to advance its iPhone production volume by just 3% in the third quarter compared with the second quarter. On the whole, iPhone 8 and 8 Plus helped sustained Apple’s production during the third quarter. As for highly anticipated iPhone X, the yield rates of its key components (e.g. Wi-Fi modules and 3D sensing modules) have been lower than expected, thus delaying production of the device. With the limited support from iPhone X, Apple was not able to significantly raise its total volume.
TrendForce’s analysis of the global smartphone market finds that sales are growing again due to the effects of the year-end busy season. The global smartphone production volume for the third quarter of 2017 totaled 384 million units, registering a year-on-year increase of 6%. Chinese brands together posted a much higher year-on-year growth of 20%. In terms of ranking by production volume, Samsung, Apple, Huawei, OPPO and Vivo still held their respective positions in the top five for the third quarter, while Xiaomi followed at sixth place
