A new report published today by Counterpoint research notes that the iPhone 12 became the world’s best-selling 5G smartphone in October, despite its delayed launch.
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Although the “iPhone 12” was only sold for two weeks in October, it still managed to occupy the top position. These two weeks worth of sales have allowed the PiPhone 12 to become the seventh best-selling 5G device sold between January and October 2020.
The iPhone 12 Pro was the second best-selling 5G smartphone, followed by the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G. Together, OctoberiPhone 12 and 12 Pro captured almost a quarter of total 5G smartphone sales in October.
Counterpoint gives a number of factors for the explosive success of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro compared to other existing 5G devices. For example, it is believed that there was a significant demand for a 5G update in the iOS user base. The increase was also caused by strong promotions from US operators, which accounted for more than a third of honeiPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro sales for that month. Compared to most other 5G devices, the iPhone generally has a wider market coverage, with availability in over 140 countries.
“IPhone 12” and “iPhone 12 Pro” also gave a “much-needed” boost to the 5G smartphone market, which reached the highest share of 24% of global smartphone sales in October.
Sales of iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro more than doubled the penetration of mmWave compatible smartphones from five percent in September to 12 percent in October. Counterpoint points out how this could impact the telecommunications industry and speculates that it could facilitate Apple’s future push to other sectors, such as augmented reality or virtual reality:
This is important because it provides an incentive for operators to quickly deploy the mmWave infrastructure. The high throughput and low latency offered by mmWave will help unlock the true potential of 5G. Given the network and mmWave devices, it would lay a solid foundation for Apple to harness the power of mmWave in segments such as AR / VR.
Counterpoint demand for the iphone 12 series is expected to remain strong until the fourth quarter of 2020, especially during the holiday season. The late launch of the devices is likely to lead to sales in the coming months, thus maintaining the momentum of sales in early 2021.