88 percent of the $800-plus smartphones sold last quarter were iPhones

It’s no secret that there are far more Android phones out there than iPhones, but it turns out that could have a little more to do with price ranges than previously thought. Why? Well, Apple globally sold a whopping 43 percent of all phones priced $400 or above in the second quarter of 2018. In other words, 43 percent of the people who can afford an iPhone are buying one — which is far more than the 20.45 percent market share that iOS holds overall.

The report comes from Counterpoint Research, which notes that on top of shipping 43 percent of phones above $400, Apple also swept up a massive 62 percent of the profits generated from smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2018. That’s way ahead of the likes of Samsung, which made 17 percent of the profits, as well as Huawei, with 8 percent, Oppo, with 5 percent, and Vivo, with 4 percent.

Perhaps most interesting are the so-called “premium” sales, which are defined as sales of smartphones that cost over $400. As mentioned, Apple held 43 percent of premium sales, beating out Samsung, which came in with 24 percent, and Oppo, which offered 10 percent. In the $400 to $600 range, Apple and Oppo were tied at 22 percent of sales, and in the $600 to $800 range Apple beat out Samsung with 44 percent of sales.

Apple shot ahead in the $800-plus range, selling a whopping 88 percent of phones.

According to Counterpoint, Samsung lagged a little more than expected in the second quarter of 2018. In particular, the company’s share in the $600 to $800 range was on the decline with fewer than expected sales of the Samsung Galaxy S9.

Of course, in general Samsung sells far more smartphones than Apple, but this latest report highlights the fact that those numbers are mostly focused in the sub-$400 range.

The news becomes even more interesting for Apple when we consider the fact that the second quarter of 2018 may well have been its worst quarter of the year. This was the quarter right before it launched a slew of new iPhones — so many customers would have been holding out to see what Apple released at its September 12 event.

So despite the fact that Apple only releases new phones once per year, it still commands a large percentage of the profits — and it’s unlikely that will slow in the near future.