It looks like Apple’s back on top. The company may have had a few down months thanks other companies’ upgrade cycle, but it has again locked in the top-selling smartphone spot for May — though Samsung’s Galaxy S9 Plus wasn’t too far away from beating it, according to Counterpoint Research.
It makes sense that Samsung came so close — the company released the Galaxy S9 in March, and the Galaxy S9 Plus held the top spot for April as a result. Both of the two devices ended up with 2.4 percent of the smartphone market share, but in the end, the iPhone inched ahead. Of course, the iPhone 8 wasn’t the only phone to show up on the list — the iPhone X also appears, coming in third place. In fourth was the Xiaomi Redmi 5A, and the iPhone 8 Plus came in fifth. Other phones in the top 10, in order, include the likes of the standard Samsung Galaxy S9, Huawei P20 Lite, Vivo X21, Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus, and Oppo A83.
It’s a pretty big deal for Apple to grab three of the top five spots on the list and it comes after a series of big advertising campaigns for the company. For example, a new ad campaign was launched for the FIFA World Cup highlighting “How to shoot on an iPhone,” which has reportedly helped generate a lot of interest for the device, especially in Europe.
Even more notable about the fact that the iPhone 8 and iPhone X are so successful is that we’ll be getting a slew of new iPhones in a matter of a few months. Apple normally refreshes the iPhone in September, and that’s when we’re expecting to see a follow-up to the iPhone 8 and iPhone X. Apple is rumored to be moving to a lineup of three phones with the iPhone X design this time around, which could help generate even more sales. It’s likely the gap between the top-tier iPhone and the Galaxy S9 won’t be so close in a few months, when the new set of iPhones launch and Apple is expected to absolutely dominate the market — as it usually does.
It’s interesting that Samsung was able to get so close to Apple in May — new reports indicate that the company has missed profit estimates and suffered a 0.7 percent decline in sales year over year.
