SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple lost more ground in the shrinking smartphone market last quarter, with a sales tracker saying the tech giant was pushed off the top-three seller list by a Chinese rival.
Apple fell to fourth place in global smartphone sales, shipping 35.3 million iPhones in the second quarter compared to the 36.2 million units shipped by Oppo, according to a report from IHS Markit this week.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is expected to launch by September the successors to its iPhone XS and XR models from 2018 with what may be called the iPhone 11 or XI.
South Korean consumer electronics titan Samsung remained in first place with 23 percent of the market, having shipped 75.1 million smartphones, China's Huawei shipped 58.7 million smartphones to claim 18 percent of the market, IHS Markit calculated.
"Apple continues to face challenges in terms of unit shipments -- a trend that is unlikely to be fixed soon," IHS smartphone research and analysis director Jusy Hong said in an online post.
While California-based Apple has been aggressively promoting iPhones, current-generation smartphones have "super-premium" prices while models a few years old are still costly compared to bargain Android-powered handsets, the analyst reasoned.
Other smartphone market trackers such as Counterpoint Research and International Data Corporation concluded that while iPhone shipments sank in the second quarter, Apple remained in third place what it came to global shipments.
Huawei, meanwhile, saw smartphone shipments rise despite the overall market contracting and US-China trade tensions, market trackers reported.
CHINESE RIVALS RISING
Huawei -- considered the world leader in superfast fifth-generation, or 5G, equipment and the world's number two smartphone producer -- has been blacklisted by US President Donald Trump amid suspicions it provides a backdoor for Chinese intelligence services. The company denies those charges.
"The effect of the ban did not translate into falling shipments during this quarter, which will not be the case in the future," Counterpoint associate research director Tarun Pathak said in the firm's market report.
"In the coming quarters, Huawei is likely to be aggressive in its home market and register some growth there, but it will not be enough to offset for the decline in its overseas shipments."
The combined global smartphone market share of Chinese firms Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Realme reached a new high of 42 percent in the second quarter, according to Counterpoint.
"These brands have been aggressively expanding outside China and achieving growth offsetting the saturation in their home market," said Counterpoint research analyst Varun Mishra.
"Their strategies and product portfolios are more aligned to the local needs and preferences, which is one of their key strengths."
Apple has been striving to wean itself off its reliance on iPhone sales with a focus on services, digital content and related gadgets.
In the just-ended quarter, Apple for the first time took in less than half its revenue from the iPhone, the longtime cash and profit driver for the company.
Apple managed to grow its overall revenues, albeit by a modest one percent, to $53.8 billion, even as iPhone revenues plunged nearly 12 percent in the April-June period.
The company delivered strong growth from digital content and services including Apply Pay and Apple Music, along with wearables and accessories like the Apple Watch and Air Pods.
Apple has stopped reporting iPhone unit sales, but chief executive Tim Cook said during an earnings call that there was a "strong customer response" to iPhone promotions and financing programs.
Apple saw its sales improve in the crucial China market, which included a double-digit increase in services revenue driven by strong growth in the App Store there, according to the company.
The sale of iPhones in that country was boosted by factors including pricing moves by Apple, and trade-in and financing programs, Cook said.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Apple's trio of smartphones for 2018 include a refresh and supersized version of last year's iPhone X and the colorful and less expensive iPhone XR.
Not only is the iPhone XS Max Apple's biggest yet with a 6.5-inch screen, it is also the most expensive, starting at $1,099 in the US for the 64 gigabyte model and $1,449 for the 512 gigabyte model, according to Apple's website.
In 2017, the pre-tax US price of $999 for the 64 gigabyte iPhone X translated to nearly P65,000 in official stores in the Philippines.
Here are photos from the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR and the Series 4 Apple Watch at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California on Wednesday (early Thursday in Manila).
source: news.abs-cbn.com
CUPERTINO, California - Apple Inc introduced its largest iPhone ever and a new line of watches that can detect heart problems on Wednesday as it looks to get users to upgrade to more expensive devices in the face of stagnant global demand for smartphones.
The relatively small changes to its lineup, following last year's overhauled iPhone X, were widely expected by investors, who sent the company's shares down 1.5 percent.
The strategy has been successful, helping Apple's stock up more than 30 pct this year and making it the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit a market value of more than $1 trillion.
"It is pretty consistent with past iPhone release days where we see short-term sell the news but things will probably get a lot better in the weeks and months ahead, particularly with a strong holiday sales season expected," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive of Longbow Asset Management.
Apple's new phones are the XS, with a 5.8-inch (14.7-cm) screen, starting at $999. The XS Max, the largest iPhone to date and one of the biggest on the market, has a 6.5-inch (16.5-cm) screen, and starts at $1,099.
The company uses the 'S' suffix when it upgrades components but leaves the exterior of a phone largely the same. Last year's iPhone X - pronounced "ten" - represented a major redesign.
It also introduced a lower-cost 6.1-inch (15.5 cm) iPhone Xr made of aluminum, starting at $749.
With two phone models starting at $999 or higher in the United States, Apple appears to be taking advantage of a strong U.S. economy, low unemployment, and rising household wealth. The median U.S. household income rose for a third straight year in 2017 to the highest on record since 1967 by one measure, government data showed on Wednesday.
MEDICAL DEVICE MARKET
Apple, which is looking for ways to lessen reliance on phones for revenue, opened its event by announcing the new Apple Watch Series 4 range with edge-to-edge displays, like its latest phones, which are more than 30 percent bigger than displays on current models.
It is positioning the new watch as a more comprehensive health device, able to take an electrocardiogram to detect an irregular heartbeat and start an emergency call automatically if it detects a user falling down, potentially appealing to older customers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it worked with Apple to develop apps for the Apple Watch and has been taking steps to ease the regulatory pathway for companies seeking to create digital healthcare products.
"This is a pretty big deal," said healthcare tech analyst Ross Muken at Evercore. "This update really establishes the company’s increasing efforts to push the watch as a serious medical device. Apple seems to be diving into heart disease first, the most common cause of death around the world, making serious moves as a health company."
Shares of fitness device rival Fitbit Inc fell about 3.7 percent after the Series 4 announcement. Shares of Garmin Ltd lost some earlier gains and were flat in midday New York trade.
Executives made the announcement at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple's new circular headquarters in Cupertino, California, named after the company's co-founder who wowed the world with the first iPhone in 2007.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
MANILA -- Apple will unveil its 2018 iPhones at 10 a.m. Wednesday US time (1 a.m. Thursday in Manila), hoping to reassert its dominance in the premium segment of an increasingly saturated market.
While overtaken recently by China's Huawei in terms of sales, Apple's stock value soared to $1 trillion, highlighting its high-end appeal and anticipation over the annual refresh of its most profitable product.
Here's what to expect based on reports leading up to the unveiling at the Steve Jobs Theater in California:
A TRIO OF IPHONES
Apple will likely refresh the internals, but keep the design of the 5.8-inch iPhone X and offer a larger model with a 6.5-inch screen. Both will have OLED displays and dual cameras on the rear.
The company is also expected to launch a relatively cheaper six-inch model with a single rear camera, an LCD screen and an aluminum frame instead of stainless steel to keep costs down. It will be largely similar in design to the iPhone X, including the notch on the front.
AN 'S' YEAR, MORE COLORS
Apple's invite for the Sept. 12 launch in the US was in gold, hinting at the return of the hue that was absent in last year's iPhone X, which came only in white and black.
The cheaper 6-inch model may be offered in more colors, including blue and orange, according to reports.
The 5.8 and 6.5-inch models may be called iPhone XS, indicating at mostly under-the-hood updates, with the larger model rumored to be differentiated with the "Max" moniker, instead of "Plus."
Apple has used "Plus" to differentiate its larger iPhone, from 2014's iPhone 6 Plus to last year's iPhone 8 Plus.
SOFTWARE REFRESH, PRICE
The 2018 iPhones will ship with iOS 12, which Apple offered to beta testers earlier this year. New features include grouped notifications, a fresh set of animojis and "digital health" features that let users track how much they use their phones everyday.
Face ID will likely be offered across all 3 models, though the cheaper iPhone is unlikely to have the pressure-sensitive "force touch" feature that lets users call up menus by long pressing on the screen.
Analysts are divided on the pricing, but since the $1,000 iPhone X from 2017 (roughly P64,500 in the Philippines, including taxes), Apple's rivals have also raised prices.
Samsung's Galaxy Note 9 launched with a near $1,000 price tag in the US and P55,990 for the base model in the Philippines.
COMPETITION
The iPhone X will be unveiled a month before Google's Pixel 3 phones in New York on Oct. 9 and Huawei's Mate 20 series in London on Oct. 16.
Alleged leaks of the Pixel 3 point to a large notch. It will launch with Android 9 Pie, which harnesses Google's machine learning prowess and offers a bloat-free software experience.
The Mate 20 is expected to offer the Leica-engineered triple cameras on the P20 series from earlier this year, but with larger screens and Android 9 out of the box, according to reports.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
