The Sate of iPhone Play Today
Meet Morgan Stanley Analyst Erik Woodring
23 JUNE 2022 - While worry around Apple and iPhone looms on the horizon for some, the current iPhone picture looks pretty good. We heard earlier this week about a rebound for May iPhone sales in China. UBS analyst David Vogt wrote to investors that “iPhone shipments increased ~13% YoY and ~155% month-over-month as Apple took material share” in the Middle Kingdom.
Though the note on his note did not say so, he was apparently looking at numbers from the China Academy for Information and Communications Technology (CAICT). I say so because a note from Morgan Stanley, parts of which were posted by Apple 3.0, show similar numbers, citing CAICT as their source. Basically, that organization posts numbers from domestic phone sales and imported phone sales. Since the only imported phones that sell in any real volume in China are made by Apple, a rise in imported phones tends to be equated to a rise in iPhone sales. Thus Morgan Stanley showing a rise of 14% for iPhone versus UBS’ roughly 13% iPhone rise.
Last month’s uptick for iPhone in China had UBS indicating that possible weakened iPhone sales were less of a worry. Now, Morgan Stanley analyst Erik Woodring is saying the same. Quoting Woodring:
…these strong May iPhone results help make up for the weakness in April and reflect the fact that Apple is the most sought after premium smartphone brand in China.
Also, Woodring’s the new analyst on Apple for Morgan Stanley. According to Apple 3.0, “Katy Huberty has moved into a management role.” The site has the firm saying that Huberty “is still involved with Apple coverage as it transitions over to Erik.”
Morgan Stanley has an “Overweight” rating on Apple shares. The firm’s price target on the shares is $185.
Counterpoint: iPhone Topped Global Smartphone Sales in April
When you’re looking at the top smartphone makers on Earth, it’s practically a two-horse race. At least it was a couple of months ago. Counterpoint Research hit this week with global smartphone sales for the month of April. According to the firm, five of the top-ten smartphones sold in April were made by Apple, four were made by Samsung, and one - the tenth-most popular phone - was made by Xiaomi (see chart above).
Running down the list:
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 12
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra 5G
Samsung Galaxy A13
iPhone SE 2022
Samsung Galaxy A03 Core
Samsung Galaxy A53 5G
10.Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 LTE
Impressive as the list is for Apple and Samsung, Counterpoint points out that the top-10 models only account for about 20% of April’s total smartphone market. The firm also notes the growth of 5G on the list. In April of last year only four phones in the top-10 were 5G enabled. This year, that number is up to seven - not overly surprising considering all five of Apple’s phones on the top-ten sport and support 5G.
Notable in its absence is iPhone 13 mini. Counterpoint did not note that, though I did and do. Not that smaller and less expensive iPhones don’t have their place. On the seventh-place iPhone SE, Counterpoint says:
The recently launched iPhone SE 2022 saw triple-digit MoM growth, entering the top 10 list. The model has done particularly well in Japan where it topped the sales chart for April and captured 18% of the nation’s smartphone market share.
