The iPhone is still mighty even though the competition is getting tougher and there are still shortages of chips that have not been fully resolved. Even in the latest financial reports from Apple, iPhone sales experienced very solid growth.
The arrival of the iPhone 13 in September yesterday succeeded in making total iPhone sales in the fourth quarter penetrated USD 71.63 billion, an increase of 9% from the previous year which was valued at USD 65.6 billion.
One of the factors driving the rapid growth of iPhone sales is the very strong performance in the Chinese market. For the first time in 6 years, Apple is again the largest smartphone manufacturer in the Bamboo Curtain country with a market share of 23%. They also beat the domestic smartphone vendors who are usually in power.
"Sales of the iPhone 13 have been successful due to the relatively cheaper price when it was released in China, as well as the new camera and 5G features," said Counterpoint Research analyst Mengmeng Zhang.
"What's more, Huawei, which is Apple's main competitor in the premium market, has experienced a decline in sales due to continued sanctions from the United States," he added, as quoted by CNBC.
In China after the iPhone, the smartphone market is dominated by Oppo, Vivo, Honor and then Xiaomi is in fifth position.
The scarcity of chips that is still happening so far was able to be handled by Apple well. Maybe the chip manufacturers put Apple first because usually they are the biggest buyers considering the best-selling iPhone.
"They managed to handle the supply chain better than anyone and this can be seen from the results they book," said Ryan Reith, analyst at research bureau IDC.