iPhone growth of sales slowed down

According to the article ‘iPhone has peaked and Apple has nowhere to go but down’ by Jeffrey Van Camp (2014), Apple sold 51 million iPhones for the last three months of 2013. It was impressive, but it was less so when you compare it to the 48 million iPhones Apple sold a year prior. It’s year over year growth for this period was 7 percent, the lowest it’s ever been by a lot. (Camp, 2014)

Camp (2014) also mentioned in the article that from 2007 to 2011, iPhone sales doubled every holiday season, more or less. It meant that every time a new iPhone was launched, more sales should be achieved. But that was no longer the case. In 2012 sales growth fell by two thirds, and even with two iPhones launched in 2013, it all fell again by another two thirds. It showed how dramatically the holiday sales of Apple had slowed down in last two years.

Based on my personal opinion, failure of iOS 7, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 5C to drive as much buzz as previous models was one of the main reasons why the sales of Apple were growing at such a slow rate. According to Camp (2014), this was the first year two iPhones have been released out and it appeared that the tactic didn’t help much in boosting the sales, likely because the 5C is a similar phone without much of a price discount. It seems when people buy an iPhone, they want the full iPhone look and feel, and coloured plastic is not what they are looking for in a smartphone. (Miller, 2014) Colourful plastic covers look cheapskate compared to iPhone’s classic design which comes in the colour of silver, black, white or gold.

Another reason will definitely be the growth of Android phone makers such as Apple’s biggest competitor in the industry: Samsung. Samsung’s sales momentum began to skyrocket thanks to the success of its Galaxy brand of phones. Mainly the reason why some consumers prefer Samsung phone over iPhone is because of the design of the phone. People who prefer having a smartphone with a larger display screen which they find more friendly-user will obviously pick Samsung over iPhone, especially their latest Galaxy Note 3 phablet (phone + tablet) model with the gigantic screen. Even my father chose it over iPhone 5S just because he needed a phone with a bigger screen for his poor eyesight.

The IDC's Program Director for its Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Ryan Reith mentioned that "not only will growth decline more than ever before, but the driving forces behind smartphone adoption are changing. New markets for growth bring different rules to play by and 'premium' will not be a major factor in the regions driving overall market growth." (Oleaga 2014)

Anyhow, people these days will not be able to survive without a smartphone. Apple definitely will not end up like Blackberry. The sales are growing slow but it doesn’t mean that it’s stopping entirely. Some suggest that Apple should introduce new types of iPhones in the phablet and super cheap variety; many credible rumours even point toward a big-screen iPhone 6. I hope the rumours do come true then.