Despite Criticisms And Mockery, iPhone X Dominated Q4 2017

The iPhone X didn’t launch without criticism or mockery from both publications and the general public. Everything from its ugly notch to the price of a whopping $999 of a starting cost was supposed to play against the handset’s favor. However, while the performance of the smartphone didn’t live up to Apple’s expectations, it still absolutely dominated the market for the fourth quarter of 2017.

According to a new report by research firm Counterpoint, iPhone X took 21 percent of the industry’s revenue pie for Q4 last year and an even bigger piece of the profits tart at 35 percent. On that note, it seems the smartphone industry as a whole saw a decline. The firm is apparently attributing this to the fact that the global smartphone market has reached its peak.

“We believe that the Global smartphone market has already reached its peak with longer replacement cycles and key smartphone OEMs are now under pressure to book profits,” the report reads.

With that said, analysts are also predicting that the longer the iPhone X stays in the market, its shares will grow accordingly. This is expected to be the case until it reaches the near end of its lifecycle.

Among the publications that actually gave the iPhone X an excellent rating was PC Mag, complementing the handset for its supposed “fresh design” and its AR features. If the data that Counterpoint is getting is anything to go by, it’s that global consumers are likely looking at the 10th anniversary Apple product with the same view.

On the other hand, this is bad news for anyone who didn’t like what Apple did with the iPhone X or the trend it started, particularly with the ugly notch. As Tom’s Guide notes, this high performance will likely be taken by the Cupertino firm as validation of its approach and might convince it to double down on the choices it made, including making its phones more expensive. Customers will buy them anyway.