Apple ships 29 million iPhone Xs in Q4 2017

Apple shipped 29 million iPhone Xs in Q4 2017. This made it the world’s best-shipping smartphone model over the holiday season, according to Canalys.com.

Adoption was driven by upgrade demand in operator-centric markets, where Apple’s installed base is high and customers can finance the cost of handsets over many months. Another notable highlight for the iPhone X is that of the 29 million shipped, 7 million were in China.

“The iPhone X performance is impressive for a device priced at US$999, but it is slightly below industry expectations,” said Ben Stanton, Analyst at Canalys. “Apple struggled with supply issues in early November, but achieved a massive uplift in production in late November and throughout December. This helped it meet and even exceed demand in some markets by the end of the quarter. One major benefit to Apple is that customers are increasingly realizing the residual value of their old smartphones, opting for trade-in programs to offset the high price of the iPhone X. But that big price tag, and Apple’s split launch strategy, still had an impact, and shipments were not the fastest ever for an iPhone.”