According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Pulse program, Apple sold a record 22.39 million iPhones in the U.S. market during the holiday season quarter of 2017. The tech giant grew their sell-through market share from 37% to 44%, notes the research group. This is the highest ever market share for Apple in its home market.
“Apple shipped a record 22 million iPhones for the first time ever in a quarter in USA and is note-able and impressive feat because the Q4 promotional season was not nearly as aggressive as previous years,” Research Director Jeff Fieldhack stated. “ In addition, upgrade rates are slightly lower year-over-year as smartphone subscribers are holding onto phones longer. Apple was able to grow their sell through 20% in a market that only grew 2% compared to last year. This means Apple has been successful to take share away from Samsung in the premium.”
Research Director, Neil Shah, added: “There has been a lot of chatter that the iPhone X has disappointed on a global level which is partly true not only for Q4 2017 but also moving into 2018 as a result of the higher price which ensured the demand remained softer than expected. But this has not been the case in the US market and outlook looks positive for Apple in its home market for 2018. US consumers on an average are probably on their third or fourth iPhone and are willing to pay for the Apple ecosystem which is much stronger and sticky in USA than for example in China.”
During the fourth quarter of 2017, all the three new iPhones were strong sellers; the three were the top three selling phones in the U.S. market. However, since its launch on Nov. 3, the iPhone X outsold the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus by a 2:1 margin. What this means is the super-premium segment (above $800) has grown from almost 0% in previous years to 25% share of the total smartphones sold in U.S. during quarter four of 2017.
