Oliver Haslam on May 1, 2019, 9:15 pm

Report: iPhone Sales In Q1 2019 Show Alarming Year-On-Year Decline Along With Samsung

Apple may have just had an earnings call where it continues to see healthy profits, but according to early data on global smartphone sales for the first quarter of 2019, iPhone sales aren’t great.

The numbers come from IDC and appear to show that Apple shipped 30% fewer iPhones when compared with the previous year.

It’s not just Apple, either, with the entire smartphones market seeing a decline of 6.6% when compared with the same time in the previous year.

If IDC’s numbers are accurate, all smartphone makers sold a combined 310.8 million phones during Q1 2019, which is where the 6.6% fall comes from. However, there was one company that notable saw growth during the quarter and it was the world’s biggest phone maker, Huawei.

This quarter’s results are a clear sign that 2019 will be another down year for worldwide smartphone shipments. The only highlight from a vendor perspective was Huawei, which made a strong statement by growing volume and share despite market headwinds.

As for the iPhone, Apple shipped 36.4 million devices during the quarter, which is down on the 52.2 million from the same period in 2018.

Currently, the world is focusing on China and the slow phone sales Apple has alluded to in the past. However, IDC says that things aren’t much better back home, with US sales also slower than usual.

It was the U.S. market that felt the worst of the downturn in 1Q19. Smartphone volumes declined 15% year over year during the quarter as replacement rates continue to slow in one of the world’s largest markets. Apple iPhone challenges contributed to the exceptionally poor 1Q19 in the U.S., but they were not alone as Samsung, LG, and other top vendors also witnessed declining volumes during the quarter.

Apple has been offering price cuts around the globe to try and stimulate sales, while enticing trade-in offers are also being used as an incentive to get people to upgrade. With Apple already mid way through the iPhone XS cycle and new phones on the horizon, we wait with baited breath to see whether the next round of releases fare better.

(Source: IDC)