The U.S. smartphone market witnessed an 8% year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, primarily propelled by a significant rebound in Apple Inc. AAPL sales thanks to the iPhone 15 launched in September.
What Happened: According to data from analytics firm Counterpoint Research, the fourth quarter 2023 surge in smartphone shipments was also helped due to Apple witnessing a disruption-free quarter, as opposed to COVID-19-induced factory shutdowns in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Conversely, Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOG Google Android operating system-powered smartphones saw a decline during the same period, particularly in the sub-$300 segment.
Jeff Fieldhack, Counterpoint's research director for North America, credited Apple’s strong demand during the holiday sales for the impressive December quarter.
Moreover, Apple made inroads in the prepaid segment with "very reduced prices" on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 models, according to Fieldhack.
This further contributed to Android's decline in the sub-$300 segment, which also suffered due to a slowdown in the premium segment as well.
Counterpoint Associate Director Hanish Bhatia shared his outlook for 2024, stating that it would largely depend on the economic performance of the U.S. He anticipated demand to pick up across all price segments, leading to modest growth throughout the year.
See Also: Apple Says Goodbye To An Icon: 2012 MacBook Pro Is Now ‘Obsolete,’ Marking The End Of Disc Drives
Why It Matters: Apple’s dominance in the smartphone market has been a consistent trend, as evidenced by its resilience in the third quarter of 2023, despite the global smartphone market hitting its lowest levels in a decade.
The company’s popularity among American teenagers has also been a significant factor, with 87% of them owning or planning to buy an iPhone.
The iPhone 15 managed to retain over 70% of its value since its launch, outperforming its predecessor, the iPhone 14, and rival Google’s Pixel 8. Despite facing competition from Huawei’s comeback in China, Apple remained the "undisputed" leader in the premium smartphone segment in 2023, holding a 71% share.
Apple is scheduled to report its December 2023 quarter earnings post-market close today (Feb. 1).
Price Action: Apple's shares are up 0.89% at $186.04 on Thursday, while the 52-week range is between $143.90 to $199.62.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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