According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Pulse program, the US market sold-through 51.2m smartphones during the holiday season quarter of 2017.  Apple sell-through during this period was a record 22.39 million smartphones.  Apple was able to grow their sell-through market share from 37% to 44%. This is the highest ever market share for Apple in its home market.

Commenting on Apple's growth story here, Research Director Jeff Fieldhack stated, “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.  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 (see here) 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 Q4 2017, all the three new iPhones were strong sellers—the three were the top three selling phones in the US market.  However, since its launch on November 3rd, 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 USA during Q4 2017, which speaks volumes for the potential of USA market and the US consumers' buying power.”

Commenting on the outlook for ASP’s, Research Director, Jeff Fieldhack, added, “The success of the iPhone X, which begins at $999, and 256GB iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus variants will help boost ASP’s during the quarter.  Over 10.5m iPhones sold in the US during 4Q17 had an ASP above $850 helping Apple register close to US$9 billion from these iPhone sales alone during the quarter.  In many other key markets such as China (see here) , Chinese OEM’s such as Oppo, vivo, and Xiaomi have caused price or sales pressure downwards.  However, to date, this has not been the case in the US market where iPhone user base has been growing steadily.”

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Background:

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in detailed industry analysis of the TMT sectors. It services major technology firms and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analysis of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are experts in the industry with an average tenure of over 15 years in high tech industries.

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