iPhone X adjudged the best-selling smartphone of Q1 of 2018

With so many rumoured news prevailing around regarding the next generation of iPhones, it was Apple’s current lineup, including the $1,000 iPhone X, that captured most of the attention this week. On Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple earned nearly $150 billion in revenue and $34 billion in earnings for the first half of the company’s fiscal year.

iPhone X was adjudged the bestselling smartphone of Q1 2018, as per Strategy Analytics report. Apple had a great outing in the quarter, with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus – smartphones that were launched alongside the iPhone X last September – coming in at second and third, respectively. The company rounded off the top four with the iPhone 7, and the only Android smartphone in the top five is remarkably Xiaomi’s entry-level smartphone – the Redmi 5A.

Strategy Analytics in its report says the iPhone X captured 5 percent of the global smartphone market in Q1 2018, with 16 million units shipped. Apple shipped 12.5 million iPhone 8 units, which had a 3.6 percent share of the market, followed by the iPhone 8 Plus’ 8.3 million units, and 2.4 percent share. The iPhone 7 saw 5.6 million units shipped, a fall from its record 21.5 million units in Q1 2017.

There’s simply no understating the importance of the iPhone in those results. Apple generates about two-thirds of its revenue — and, most likely, much of its profits — from the iPhone portfolio. The company sold 52.2 million of its phones in the first three months of 2018, and Cook noted that the iPhone X was Apple’s best-selling device every week of the quarter.

And as if that wasn’t enough, Apple’s share of the global smartphone market increased in the first quarter of 2018 in the midst of an overall downturn. Global shipments in the quarter fell 2 percent year over year to 345 million units, according to Strategy Analytics.

In fact, countering the predictions of many analysts, the iPhone X claimed the title of best-selling smartphone overall for the first quarter of 2018. Apple shipped 16 million iPhone X units between January and March, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics. Apple also nabbed the next two spots on the list with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, which sold 12.5 million units and 8.3 million units, respectively.

In the weeks leading up to Apple’s announcement, numerous analysts cut their earnings estimates, warning that it could mark the end of an era of staggering growth. They based their fears on results from Apple’s component suppliers, including Samsung, which warned about weakness in the mobile market.

Samsung held on the smartphone sales crown by shipping 78.2 million units, a decline of 2 percent year over year, giving it a market share of 23 percent. Apple’s second-place finish marked an increase of 3 percent, giving it a market share of 15 percent.