Is the iPhone, Apple’s iconic handset, growing a bit long in the tooth? Probably not. But that seems to be the message from researchers reporting the iPhone lost market share during the fourth quarter, accounting for 16.6 percent of the market, down from 18.1 percent of smartphone sales in the third quarter.
Although iPhone sales were up 18 percent in the quarter, the entire smartphone market increased 26 percent as Motorola’s Android phones and Nokia helped boost sales, according to ABI Research. Ironically, ABI believes Apple’s iPhone could be encountering the same slump as Motorola’s once very popular Razr.
Michael Morgan, an ABI Research analyst, describes the effect as “Razr burn.” Two years after Motorola launched the Razr in 2004, the handset’s popularity and sales dropped. The original iPhone was introduced in 2007.
The iPhone last lost market share in the fourth quarter of 2008. This loss of market share comes amid record iPhone sales and profit. “To lose market share in a record quarter, that’s got to sting a little bit,” said the analyst.
What stings is that iPhone sales almost always fall in the fourth quarter after a jump in third-quarter demand. Why? The fourth quarter usually follows a third-quarter introduction of a new product. This was the case with the 3G, the 3GS and likely with the next iPhone version.
In a closed employee meeting last week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is alleged to have said Google was out to “kill” the iPhone. Although his comments did not include any timing, Jobs reportedly said the next iPhone upgrade will be of “A+” quality.
But is this recent analysis of fourth quarter smartphone market share anything to cause worry? Record iPhone sales in the fourth quarter, record profits for Apple and the usual ebb-and-flow of financial reports should keep iPhone users and Apple secure.
[Via Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac]
