Coronavirus delay may have fanned flames of iPhone 12 anticipation

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iPhone 12 review
The iPhone 12 has been a big hit for Apple.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

When the coronavirus pandemic hit last year, one of the many, many impacts of the spread was the delaying of Apple’s iPhone 12 series. While Apple and its suppliers were able to claw back some of the lost time, the iPhone 12 devices were ultimately pushed back to late October and early November, rather than the usual September release.

But while this might have been frustrating for Apple and customers alike, a new piece of research suggests it may have actually been a net positive. According to Counterpoint Research, the delay could turn out to have been a prudent move for Apple. It reports:

“The decision to delay the launch of the iPhone 12 appears to have paid off, for two reasons. First, it gave the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE the opportunity to demonstrate remarkable longevity, selling continuously well in many markets throughout the year. And second, it built up demand for the new device which, when finally launched in October, sold spectacularly. In fact, the iPhone 12 was Apple’s most successful device launch to date, and drove Apple to a record share high of 30% in Q4 2020.”

iPhone 12 is a monster hit for Apple

The report focuses on the European smartphone market. However, its findings are certainly backed up by other reports concerning how well the iPhone 12 has sold. Overall, Apple sold 41.3 million handsets in 2020.

Right now, it seems that iPhone sales are booming. Another recent report, this one from research firm Gartner, claimed the iPhone 12 made Apple the world’s top smartphone maker again in terms of sales. This is the first time in half a decade that it has overtaken Samsung to rank number one.

At Apple’s most recent earnings call, Tim Cook noted that there are now 1 billion iPhone users on the planet. As my colleague Ed Hardy noted, that’s one iPhone for every 7.8 people on Earth.

Source: Counterpoint Research

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