The iPhone is so popular its sales can crater and it still takes first place
Apple is once again the king of the global smartphone market, even after a dip in iPhone sales.
When Apple released its Q2 2017 earnings report, one of the few points of concern -- other than what exactly the company might do with its massive wealth -- was the noticeable drop in sales for its signature product.
Tim Cook & Co. are clearly focused on competing with their own records, because Apple appears to face little challenge from anyone else in the popularity department. A Strategy Analytics research report on global smartphone sales crowned the iPhone the undisputed leader in the market, as Apple absolutely dominated all comers.
Apple held the top two spots in the global smartphone market by a wide margin, according to the report. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus shipped an estimated 21.5 million and 17.4 million units, respectively.
Apple reported that it shipped over 50.7 million units during the quarter in its earnings report -- but the company doesn't elaborate on how each individual model sells, so these estimates could be our best shot at pinning down those numbers.
The two Apple devices combined to account for 11 percent of the global marketshare.
Also taking top spots on the list was the Oppo R9s, a device from China's top-selling phone maker, and two "midrange" Samsung Galaxy devices popular in Europe and Aisa that Strategy Analytics' Director Linda Sui credited for helping to offset the lingering effects of the company's Note 7 debacle.
Apple was coming off the most successful sales quarter in the iPhone's storied history, so a letdown wasn't a total shock. The extent of the decline was troubling enough, however, that CEO Tim Cook addressed the issue directly in the earnings call Q&A session, blaming the dip in sales on rumors about the upcoming iPhone 8 expected to be released later this year.
That new device is expected to kickstart a "supercycle" of iPhone sales, as consumers upgrade their old phones in light of the first major design overhaul since the 6 in 2014. Those expectations, combined with a strong showing from Samsung's Galaxy S8, could temper sales enough to knock the iPhone 7 from the top spot next quarter -- but once the iPhone 8 hits the market, Apple might take an even more massive lead if (or more likely, when) it reenters the top spot.
Brett Williams is a Tech Reporter at Mashable. He writes about tech news, trends and other tangentially related topics with a particular interest in wearables and exercise tech. Prior to Mashable, he wrote for Inked Magazine and Thrillist. Brett's work has also appeared on Fusion and AskMen, to name a few. You can follow Brett on Twitter @bdwilliams910.
