According to a report from the market research firm Canalys, Apple managed to ship 11.8 million units of the newly announced iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus in the third quarter of 2017, falling short of last year's iPhone 7 line up which sold 14 million units. This is the first time the "Plus" variant has managed to overtake its smaller sibling. The new iPhone 8 shipments amounted to 5.4 million units, while the iPhone 8 Plus shipments reached 6.3 million. However, the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus didn't even make it into the top five, with the iPhone 7 outselling the newly announced handsets.
The report mentions that the iPhone 7 is the best-selling smartphone in the third quarter with 13 million units sold with the iPhone 6S residing in second spot with 7.9 million units. Samsung's Galaxy J2 Prime is in the third spot with 7.8 million units shipped. The fourth and fifth spot is taken by Oppo's A57 and R11, respectively.
It makes sense for the iPhone 7 to become the best selling smartphone compared to its successor as there's a considerable price difference, and Apple was gearing up to launch the tenth-anniversary iPhone X.
Canalys Analyst Ben Stanton said,
“The iPhone 7 also shipped strongly after its price cut in September. Apple grew in Q3, but it was these older, cheaper models that propped up total iPhone shipments. Apple is clearly making a portfolio play here. With the launch of the iPhone X, it now has five tiers of iPhone and delivers iOS at more price bands than ever before. This is a new strategy for Apple. It is aggressively defending its market share, but it will not compromise its rigid margin structure to do so.”
Samsung continued to lead the charts with 82.8 million smartphones, an increase of 8.2 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The company's J-series was quite popular especially in India and the Middle East. As for its flagship Galaxy Note8, the company managed to sell 4.4 million units in the third quarter. The second and third spot is captured by Apple and Huawei with 46.7 and 39.1 million units, respectively.
The most interesting entry in the top five is Xiaomi, which managed to ship 28 million units in the third quarter, an increase of a whopping 86.9 percent. The company is growing at a fast rate and is expected to surpass Oppo in the coming months if it continues to grow like this.
Source: Canalys
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