The iPhone Lost Market Share in Q4? Who Cares. [Digital Daily]
In its fourth quarter, Apple shipped some 8.7 million iPhones — nearly double the number it shipped in the same quarter a year earlier and 18 percent more than it shipped in previous quarter. Impressive gains by any measure. Interesting to learn, then, that the device actually lost market share during the quarter.
According to ABI Research, the iPhone’s share of the worldwide smartphone in Q4 of 2009 slipped to 16.6 percent from 18.1 percent in the previous quarter.
Now, while it’s certainly ironic to lose market share in a record quarter, it’s important to keep a few things in mind, here.
First, measuring units sold is just one measure of a device’s success at market. Another measure worth considering is profits relative to revenue. And, according to some analysis we’ve discussed here before, Apple (AAPL) claims an inordinate share of the handset industry’s profits. Second, iPhone sales typically spike in the third quarter — the first full quarter after the latest iPhone’s launch (in this case the 3Gs), and then taper off slightly after that. They did so after the 3G debuted and they’ll almost certainly do so again when the company launches the device’s next iteration. Finally, the fact that Apple has managed to claim 16.6 percent of a market in which it had no presence whatsoever 3 years ago and that it’s done so with a single device is astonishing.
So, does this loss of market share signify the beginnings of a decline in the iPhone’s popularity or the profits it generates for Apple? Not likely.
