Counterpoints Research’s latest market survey of Europe’s smartphone market in Q3 2021 reveals that iPhone 13 has been a massive hit despite being launched towards the end of the third quarter of 2021.
Apple, along with Xiaomi, and OPPO gained a major share of Europe’s market, over the last year, recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Q3 2021 sales were only marginally down (-1%) compared to the same period last year, but were 4% down versus Q2 2021.” But the trouble is far from over. The report notes that the prevailing chip shortage is impacting sales.
iPhone 13’s high demand in Europe can achieve a record-breaking December quarter for Apple
Counterpoint Research Associate Director Jan Stryjak said that iPhone 13 boosted Apple’s share of Europe’s market significantly towards the end of the quarter. If Apple can keep up with iPhone 13’s high demand in Europe, the company will have record-breaking sales in Q4 2021.
The end of the quarter was a mixed bag for Xiaomi and Apple. Xiaomi took a big hit in September 2021 due to some significant component constraints. The iPhone 13 launch was a big success for Apple. Despite going on sale towards the end of September, the iPhone 13 appeared to be more popular than last year’s iPhone 12. If it can keep up with demand (which seems to be a challenge in some markets), Apple may well be in for a record-breaking Q4 in Europe.
Previously, a mobile market study by Strategy Analytics found that Apple’s iPhone sales in Europe grew in the second quarter of 2021 with 16% Y-o-Y growth and shipped approximately 9.6 million iPhone units in Q2 2021. “The iPhone 12 range continues to resonate with loyal Apple fans who were overdue to replace their aging 4G models” and iPhone 13 is said to be more popular than its predecessor series. In preparation for iPhone 13’s high demand in the ongoing chip shortage, Apple has cut iPad’s production by 50% to utilize more components to the iPhone 13 production.
