iPhone Shipments Decreased 15% YoY For Apple’s Q3

Apple’s forecast on Q3 earnings reveals that the company’s revenue remains unchanged during the year-on-year period. For Q3 this year, Apple's total sales are expected to reach between $52.5 billion and $54.5 million, as compared to $53.3 billion reported in the same quarter last year. When the company doesn’t show the revenue breakdown by unit sales, market research firms estimate a decline of around 11-15% YoY for the total sales of mobile products. 

According to London-based global information provider IHS Markit, Apple's iPhone shipments have dropped 14.6% YoY for Apple’s Q3, recorded at 35.3 million. In the meantime, the whole smartphone market also witnesses a 4% decrease in the shipment volume. However, Apple is the only brand among the top five to have lost the market share in Q3 2019. As for that, the company is ranked fourth in the overall market rankings, only after Samsung, Huawei, and Chinese manufacturer Oppo. 

iPhone shipments reduction explained

As said by Jusy Hong and Gerrit Schneemann, two market analysts at IHS Markit, Apple is currently facing two primary challenges including flagship models and price elasticity which lead to the decreasing iPhone shipments. 

In detail, Apple is using insufficient price flexibility for its older models though such policy might bring about a significant amount of additional shipments. Meanwhile, the company keeps offering a super-premium pricing strategy for its latest models. Because of these reasons, market analysts predict that shipments of the iPhone will continue to fall off in the upcoming period.

Statistics show that Apple’s rivals including Samsung, Huawei, and Oppo all record a YoY increase for Q3, with the amount of the shipment of 75.1; 58.7; and 36.2 million, respectively. Here's the performance of the top 10 mobile providers in the overall market during one year period: