iPhone 7 was by far the world’s best-selling smartphone in first quarter, says report
But iPhone hints that iPhone 7 Plus may have outsold the 7 had enough units been built to keep up with demand
The iPhone 7 was the world’s best-selling smartphone during the first quarter of this year, Strategy Analytics said Wednesday.
The research firm said it estimates Apple shipped 21.5 million iPhone 7 units during the quarter, giving the single device a six per cent share of the entire smartphone market.
“The iPhone 7 is by far the world’s most popular smartphone model, due to a compelling blend of user-friendly design, extensive supporting apps, and widespread retail availability for the device,” senior analyst Juha Winter said.
The iPhone 7 Plus was the second most popular phone, with 17.4 million units sold. Following the release of Apple’s fiscal Q2 earnings, CEO Tim Cook said the iPhone 7 Plus was in such high demand that Apple had a hard time building enough units. That suggests the phone might have been able to outsell the iPhone 7 had enough units been available.
The third most popular smartphone was from Chinese firm OPPO’s R9s — which sold 8.9 million units — followed by the Samsung Galaxy J3 (6.1 million units) and the Samsung Galaxy J5 (5 million units.)
It’s worth noting that Apple’s unit sales far outpaced even third-place OPPO and that lower-cost devices, such as the Galaxy J3 and Galaxy J5, ranked ahead of more expensive iPhone competitors. Part of that is because the Galaxy S8 wasn’t out yet, Strategy Analytics said
“Samsung was still gearing up for the launch of its new Galaxy S8 portfolio, but managed to get two models in the top five during Q1 2017,” Strategy Analytics director Linda Sui said, noting the Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J3 helped “offset Samsung’s troubles with the Note 7 battery fiasco.”
