Apple sold 51 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2013. The company sold nearly 3 million more than in the same span in 2012 since selling 47.8 million units in the same 2012 quarter. Apple hit a record high in terms of quarterly sales. A total of 26 million iPads were sold during the same period. Apple posted US$57.6 billion in sales in the first quarter of the fiscal year, or ₩62.12 trillion. According to Apple’s announcement, the company inked 64% of its sales in countries other than the United States during this period. The company is growing mainly in emerging markets in lieu of the U.S., where the mobile devices market is already saturated. China has established itself as one of the most important markets for Apple. This quarter, Apple earned US$8.8 billion there, or ₩9.5 trillion. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, the company recorded a 29% increase. In Japan this quarter, Apple earned US$5 billon, growing 11% more than in the same quarter last year. Apple began selling the iPhone to China's largest mobile operator, China Mobile, in 2014. The company struck a deal with NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile service carrier in Japan in September 2013. The number of applications by Chinese developers registered at an Apple App Store reached about 130,000. In Japan, the iPhone retains a 37% market share. Although Apple recorded tangible growth in China and Japan, its sales in the U.S. have hardly changed. Its sales dropped by about 1% in the U.S, while dwindling by 9% in other Asian nations but China and Japan. *Failing to Meet Expectations Apple did not this time reveal a sales breakdown by product. But, it is clear that the iPhone 5 did not live up to Apple’s expectations in sales. “Sales of the iPhone 5C turned out to be different from what we anticipated,” said Apple CEO during Apple’s earnings announcement. The iPhone 5C comes in the same hardware elements as the iPhone 5, its predecessor, and different designs. The product was rumored to be priced lower before its launch. The product features various colors but the Touch ID function is unlike the iPhone 5S. The iPhone 5C was frequently called “a product for teenagers and children” rather than a low end product. The iPhone 5S dwarfed the iPhone 5C in popularity when simultaneously introduced. CIRP, a market research company conducted a survey on sales of the iPhone in the U.S. from October to December last year. The iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C respectively accounted for 59% and 27%. The iPhone 5C got off to a bad start in the market. The IPhone 5S enjoyed a high reservation rate but the iPhone 5C recorded a mere 100,000 reservations. Apple analyzed that the Touch ID function made the difference. "People are very interested in the Touch ID function of the iPhone 5S," said CEO Tim Cook. “The new feature excited people and made the new iPhone unique.” It is said that the iPhone 5S stole the show from the iPhone 5C thanks to the Touch ID function. *OS iOS7 Surpasses 80% Share Users are quick to adopt a new version of Apple’s iOS. This is in stark contrast to the long time it takes for Google’s Android OS and Microsoft Windows to transfer to their next versions. This phenomenon took place when Apple released OS X for its Macintosh computers and the iOS7 for its mobile devices. During this business performance announcement, Apple said that OS iOS7 was used on 80% of its mobile devices. Apple officially began to distribute iOS7 in the middle of September 2013. This is a surprising figure, as the OS for mobile devices is only six months old. Source: Article
