The Cupertino tech giant's flagship phone iPhone has lost its magic touch in recent years. In 2016, the annual sales of the iPhone fell and ever since, its year after year shipment growth failed to impress. However, a new report claims that the company will dominate this year because of various reasons.
According to a private financial and investing advice company Motley Fool, a turnaround seems like a realistic possibility this year for Apple considering the sales trends of iPhone. At present, the iPhone is dominating the premium smartphone market. The iPhone XR lingers as the top-selling device globally for a year now, according to a market research firm Counterpoint Research.
The device also tops the charts in each quarter, starting in the fourth quarter of 2018. The iPhone XR controlled 3 percent of the global smartphone in the third quarter of 2019 with the Galaxy A10 on the second place at 2.6 percent. The dominance of iPhone XR is the product of Apple's strategy of offering a device more accessible to consumers through reduced pricing in key markets like India and China, says The Motley Fool.
The significant discounts attracted more customers into the Apple ecosystem. With the Cupertino company breaking the pricing barrier, aspiring consumers who previously are not prepared to spend on an iPhone device are now opening their pockets. In India, for instance, Apple achieved 51 percent of the premium smartphone market in the third quarter of 2019, as revealed by the IDC data. Interestingly, the iPhone 11 was able to keep this trend set by the iPhone XR.
The iPhone 11 managed to snatch the fifth position on the list dominated by iPhone XR. It achieved 1.6 percent of global smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2019. But, the more interesting part is that the iPhone 11 managed to secure the position in less than a couple of weeks since it was officially released. This could be a strong indicator as to why Apple's iPhone will dominate in 2020.
Earlier reports revealed that supply chains are struggling to meet the demands of the iPhone 11 components. Camera sensor supplier Sony has increased its round the clock production but still unable to meet the camera sensor demand, according to Bloomberg. Analysts are now saying that Apple is in an ideal position to sustain this amazing momentum this year.
The Cupertino company will definitely continue its aggressive pricing strategy this year even if the upcoming iPhones come out with 5G support. TFI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier said that the 5G iPhones in 2020 would have an increased price. However, Apple is reportedly planning to cut supply chain expenses to offset 5G-related costs.
