Apple shipped fewer iPhone X handsets than expected last year, according to estimates, adding to speculation that the company could phase out the smartphone model before the end of the year.
Apple sent out 29 million iPhone Xs in the final quarter of 2017, below investors’ expectations of 30 million to 35 million, according to figures published by Canalys, a market research provider.
Apple, which is worth about $915 billion, is the world’s largest public company. The iPhone is its most important product because it generates about two thirds of its revenue.
The iPhone X, which went on sale on November 3, is a special edition of the handset to mark ten years since the launch of the first iPhone. Priced at £999, it is by far the most expensive handset that the California-based company has released.
Ben Stanton, an analyst at Canalys, said that demand for the iPhone X was “impressive”, though the cost was “obviously impacting sales. Throughout [the fourth quarter] there was quiet consensus among investors that 30 million was the minimum iPhone X shipments would be. Many were forecasting up to 35 million, and some higher.”
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Canalys said that Apple’s older iPhones — the SE, 6s, 7 and 8 — had sold well in the last three months of 2017 because they provided good value for money.
“Having more strength lower down its portfolio is great for Apple. It will almost certainly beat its record quarter for iPhone shipments,” Mr Stanton said. “But it does pull a small proportion of shipments away from the top tier.”
KGI Securities, a broker, said that Apple would phase out the iPhone X rather than cut its price when it launches an upgraded model towards the end of this year. Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at KGI, estimated that the iPhone X would “reach end-of-life around the middle of 2018”. KGI predicted that Apple would ship 18 million iPhone Xs in the first quarter of this year and 13 million in the second quarter, below analysts’ consensus.
Apple shares rose initially but closed flat at $177.04 in New York last night.