A clamorous explorer whose quest for going beyond horizons is never-ending, Apple has registered a striking milestone for one of its shining beacons in the process.
The active installed base of Apple iPhones, the tech giant’s most prominent offering, has just surpassed the coveted 1 billion mark.
While the active user base is a much broader metric than the usual quarterly device sale numbers, the number does a good job of painting how the iPhone fervour has caught around the world. According to the released metric, Apple’s overall active devices around the world increased to 1.65 billion as compared to 1.5 billion the same time last year. With 1 billion active users, iPhone alone now accounting for a staggering 60% of Apple’s total active device base.
To put a timeframe around this great feat, the monumental number was in the sights for some time. Apple, having sold its billionth iPhone in 2016, was able to scale up to the mark of 900 million active iPhone users in January 2019.
To clarify for the layman, Apple counts a device as active if it is engaged with an Apple service within the past 90 days. From the chatter in the company, the stat seems to suggest that there a considerable number of iPhones sold, which remain in use as of today.
What’s more, if the forecast by analysts believing that Apple would be approaching its 1.9 billionth iPhone sale by the end of 2020, it would only add momentum to the crest of the wave on which it is riding, having swept along the holiday earnings quarter results with it.
How the iPhone 12 has fueled the brand
In Apple’s record revenue of well over $100 billion in the first fiscal quarter of 2021 which ended in December last year, iPhones were unsurprisingly a major cog in the wheel for the company. The stat of the active user base tying up with the snazzy revenue is well backed by how iPhones sales grew by 22% YoY in FY Q1 2021, posting a commanding revenue of over $65 billion to add to the tally.
The injection in profits has been sizeably driven by the strong demand for the iPhone 12 family. Such has been the charm for the iPhones in its homeland that a survey of consumers from 451 Research indicated iPhone customer satisfaction of an envious 98% for the iPhone 12.
Positive showing offshore by iPhones
The US tech giant enjoyed its best quarter in India, again courtesy of iPhones, having shipped 1.5 million iPhones in the country for the quarter ending December last year. There is again a thread to be pulled here given how the brand lodged over 100% YoY growth and sheer numbers by topping the premium market segment in the country, with a 36% share.
There is the fact that 64% of the growth came from international markets, and having a strong market presence in China assured Apple iPhone revenue grew 57% YoY to $21.31 billion there.
The underlying observations behind iPhone’s durability
Perhaps drawing a comparison between the two domains in iOS and Android, i.e. Apple against Samsung in terms of the active million users stat would unveil more to the data that meets the eye.
Though Apple has achieved the unprecedented feat of 1 billion active iPhone users, Samsung remains the top smartphone brand globally in terms of yearly smartphone shipments. Comparing with the aforementioned iPhone numbers, data suggests that there were 992.4 million active Samsung smartphones in the world as of March 2020, which helped it gobble up 26.2% of the global active smartphone user base.
Though iPhone numbers lag a tad behind at 833.5 million active users by that time, it also sold a lesser number of smartphones than a Samsung, but when it comes to premium segment alone, the situation turns upside down in favour of Apple.
The world has an estimated 4.3 billion active smartphone users by the end of 2020 and Apple iPhone accounting for nearly 24% of that can’t be seen as a small feat achieved.
Looking further at the data, it is a harbinger of Apple’s revised strategy. The iPhone maker has looked to capitalise on existing users with the Apple experience and consolidate it further into their branching interests. This means more people hanging on to the iPhone brand, one way or the other, despite a lower sales volume, all the while driving total revenue up by baiting with their other categories.
A subplot within this observation also puts the focus on how Apple has been moving its focus toward diversifying its interests. While a decline in overall phone shipments and sales in recent years has hurt every player, Apple’s services have compensated generously for it, growing 24% YoY and making $15.8 billion from the policy.
All stats aside, the standout quality of the iPhone brand which has kept its user base tethered is a combination of factors inclusive of the charisma of the models, craftmanship, the spunky performance, how seamlessly it ties up with its other offerings, and in recent times, a concern for the user’s choices.
The iPhone user is a complete package that can double up a bling accessory for the average user. On the other hand, the fact that the iOS comes packed with so much less bloatware than its Android counterparts, chimes well with all of Apple’s services, has a much better resale value, and reduces the overall cost of owning the product by enhancing rather than replacing it via frequent updates and exchanges is mouth-watering enough for the geeky sort. The short of it – user experience and trust in the brand trumps all.
Looking at things in perspective, it is just astounding how a fresh take on stats has cut open a new dimension behind the iPhone mania. Things look promising ahead for the brand, and long we pray that the obsession continues.
Stay tuned for more updates.
