It can't be all good news. While Apple (AAPL +1.39%) investors were still celebrating strong third-quarter earnings, which pushed the company above the $1 trillion valuation, Cupertino received sobering news courtesy of IDC. According to the data-analysis firm, Apple con no longer claim the title of world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer by shipments.
While the company always trailed Samsung in total shipments, now China's Huawei has surpassed Apple, and by a rather large margin. Upon further inspection, however, this is not bad news but rather a validation of Apple's iPhone strategy.
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Apple: bronze medal for shipments, gold medal for profits
In the second quarter, Huawei increased shipments approximately 41%, while Apple reported negligible growth of 0.7%. As a result, Huawei's market share rose from 11% in 2017 to 15.8% this quarter. Despite minuscule shipment growth, Apple's market share grew slightly as overall smartphone shipments decreased.
| Q2 2018 Shipments | Q2 2018 Market Share | Q2 2017 Shipments | Q2 2017 Market Share | Shipment Growth (YOY) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung | 71.5 | 20.9% | 79.8 | 22.9% | (10.4%) |
| Huawei | 54.2 | 15.8% | 38.5 | 11.1% | 40.8% |
| Apple | 41.3 | 12.1% | 41 | 11.8% | 0.7% |
| Xiaomi | 31.9 | 9.3% | 21.4 | 6.1% | 49.1% |
| Oppo | 29.4 | 8.6% | 28 | 8% | 5% |
| Others | 113.7 | 33.2% | 139.5 | 40.1% | (18.5%) |
| Total | 342 | 100% | 348.2 | 100% |
Shipment totals in millions. Original Source: IDC
Most of the shipment gains -- specifically from Huawei and Xiaomi -- came from the low/middle end of the market, segments of the market where Apple doesn't compete.
However, with negligible unit growth, Apple grew iPhone revenue 20% because of higher average selling prices as the mix shifted to the flagship iPhone X. When the company debuted the newest iteration it was clear the high-end smartphone maker was going even higher end, as the company raised the entry-level price.
Samsung was the biggest loser
While the news centered on Apple's position slip, Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF) fared the worst of all major smartphone manufacturers when you drill further into the numbers. Smartphone shipments for Samsung fell 10.4% on a year-on-year basis, with Chinese competitors Huawei and Xiaomi appearing to take the lost market share.
However, unlike Apple's iPhone X, Samsung's latest iPhone challenger -- the Galaxy S9 -- appears to be a flop. An analyst quoted by The Wall Street Journal estimated that the company will ship 31 million S9 units in calendar year 2018, 10 million fewer than Apple shipped in this quarter alone.
The takeaway is clear: Apple is dominating the higher-end smartphone market and growing revenue double-digits in a mature industry.
Apple's iPhone X strategy was correct
Many analysts were skeptical of the new iPhone's high selling prices and believed the company would sell fewer devices as a result. But the combination of Apple's strong iPhone revenue growth alongside year-over-year shipment growth in a declining market points to analyst consensus being wrong.
When the company reported third quarter earnings, Apple beat analyst expectations on the top line by posting $53.3 billion and provided a solid bottom-line EPS beat of $2.34. Even more impressive were that these figures increased 17% and 40% over last year's performance, thanks in large part to the company's iPhone segment
What this signifies is that Apple's premium-pricing strategy was tailored fit to grow revenue in a slowing market.
