Apple sales strong

Market reports confirm strong performance in all sectors

Apple is in a strong place in an impressive quarter.

Apple reported another record result for its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter (everyone else’s Q3), ended September 30, 2017. Quarterly revenue was $52.6 billion, an increase of 12% from the corresponding quarter of 2016. There was growth in every business sector; even Mac sales were up 10% year-over-year.

The finances are fine, then. What’s particularly interesting is Apple’s market share. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, Apple remains king when it comes to smartphone sales in the US. The report data suggests that despite overall smartphone shipments in the US slipping by two percent in Q3 2017, Apple still shipped 12 million iPhones in the States, giving it a 30.4% market share, with Samsung coming in second at 25.1% in the quarter. Worldwide, Apple sold 46.7 million iPhones in the quarter.

Of course, these figures don’t take into account the iPhone X, released in November. Apple’s own forward guidance is for revenue in the range of $84-87 billion in the next quarter, but analysts suggest that thanks to the “X factor,” this estimate may prove to be conservative. Adam Levine-Weinberg from the Motley Fool is predicting revenues of $90 billion and beyond. TrendForce predicts a boost in iPhone production volume and increased sales over the holiday period, leading to Apple overtaking the current leader, Samsung, in worldwide smartphone market share.

It’s not just phones, either. The same quarter also saw Apple back on top in the global wearables market, with Watch shipments of 3.9 million. According to Canalys, this gives Apple 23% market share, beating former top-spot holder Xiaomi, which had 21%, and Fitbit’s 20%.