Apple Grabs Majority Of Smartphone Revs

Edging out its combined competition, Apple accounted for 51% of global smartphone revenues in the fourth quarter of 2017.

That’s according to fresh data from Strategy Analytics, which found that the company earned $61 billion of the $120 billion that consumers spent on smartphones during the period.

“Apple generated three times more smartphone revenue than nearest rival Samsung and seven times more than Huawei,” Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, notes in a new report. 

In large part, Mawston attributed Apple’s success to “solid demand for its premium X model,” which he called “an incredible money-making machine.”

Partly driven by Apple’s pricier iPhone, consumer spending increased during the fourth quarter, according to Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics.

From the fourth quarter of 2016 to the same period in 2017, the industry’s wholesale average selling price surged 18%, from $255 to $300. Overall, the research and consulting firm estimates that global smartphone wholesale revenues grew 8% annually, during the fourth quarter of 2017.

Samsung, for its part, grew its global smartphone wholesale revenues by 16% year-over-year to $19 billion, during the fourth quarter.  Like Apple, Samsung’s smartphone wholesale average selling price grew strongly -- increasing 21% percent annually to $254 in the quarter.

The popularity of premium Note 8 and Galaxy S8 models, as well as fewer low-end sales in its core Asia markets, such as China, drove the growth, Sui said.

Huawei generated $8 billion of global smartphone wholesale revenues to maintain its position as the world’s third-largest vendor by turnover in last quarter of 2017. Huawei’s smartphone wholesale average selling price presently sits at $205, and it has by far the lowest pricing among the top-three smartphone players, Strategy Analytics finds.

Next story loading loading..