Apple iPhone XR emerges top selling iPhone in Nov as yearly sales dip 20%: Report

Apple’smost affordable offering this year, the **iPhone XR** , has emerged as the best-selling iPhone model globally, as of November 2018 data. However, data revealed by market research firm Counterpoint reveals that iPhone sales have fallen by 20 percent overall based on numbers compared for November 2018 against those from the same period in 2017. [caption id=“attachment_5467731” align=“alignnone” width=“1024”] The Apple iPhone XR. Image: tech2/Omkar Patne[/caption] In fact, Counterpoint data reveals that the iPhone X experienced close to a “50 percent higher volume” in November 2017 than the iPhone XR did in 2018. The research firm in a blog post states that lower than expected sales in emerging markets such as India and greater China have contributed to decreasing sales globally. The iPhone XS Max, when compared to iPhone X sales in November last year, shows a 46 percent decline in sales. However, cumulative sales of iPhone XS Max were up by 50 percent in comparison to that of iPhone X last year due to the early availability of the higher priced models this year. [caption id=“attachment_5857891” align=“alignnone” width=“919”] iPhone November sales 2017 vs 2018. Image: Counterpoint[/caption] As far as predictions for the coming months go, the firm sees iPhone sales in China take a dip in December, partly due to the ongoing trade war between US and China, as well as because of Chinese companies encouraging employees to buy smartphones from Chinese OEMs. The sale of older iPhone models like iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 is expected to pick up in emerging markets due to the high price of newer models. Counterpoint believes that the decline in sales, particularly in the US and European markets, is due to the “lengthening replacement cycle and decreased operator discounts” during the launch of new iPhone models. The report also arrives just days after Apple took the rare step of **cutting its quarterly sales forecast** , with Chief Executive Tim Cook blaming slowing iPhone sales in China. This does not quite add up. That’s because earlier today, Trump Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in an interview with CNBC, said Apple shouldn’t point towards China for struggling iPhone sales, considering no specific tariffs have been imposed.