14 DAY TRIAL // Despite several analysts saying iPhone X is performing below expectations, it turns out the anniversary model is selling like hot cakes in China, where it manages to convince more Android users to switch sides and join the Apple ecosystem.
Analyst house Morgan Stanley says iPhone X adoption is better than the one of iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but that’s not surprising at all, especially given that sales of these two models have been significantly impacted by the arrival of the anniversary model.
The more important thing is that analyst Katy Huberty claims the switching rate from Android to iOS has increased from 6.7% in October to 9.2% after the debut of the iPhone X, probably as a result of features like Face ID, Animoji, and the OLED display installed on the device.
“Additional data show that iPhone X adoption in China is on a faster pace than the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus … Despite faster penetration of iPhone X vs. iPhone 8/8 Plus, we believe there remains significant pent-up demand from the base of 2+ year old iPhone owners,” the analyst was quoted as saying.
Plethora of upgrades from iPhone 7
Furthermore, the analyst says approximately half of the Apple users in China who purchased the iPhone X upgraded from iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
Apple is on the rise in China, and that can only be a good thing for the company, especially because the local market has proved to be a difficult region in terms of iPhone penetration.
“In the last six months, Apple's period-over-period active smartphone market share gains have averaged 1.4 basis points. In the two four-week periods that contain partial iPhone X shipment data, however, share gains averaged 87.1 basis points, driving iPhone market share to 21.2 percent,” the analyst continues.
Initial sales of the iPhone X have been severely impacted by the constrained supply, with Apple only now in the process of aligning production with demand. Analysts expect iPhone X to become available for walk-in customers in early January.
