The iPhone 12 was the best-selling phone in the 1st quarter by number of units sold, the iPhone 12 Pro Max came in second place. However, looking at the revenue they generated, the two Apple devices are changing places. This comes from the latest report from Counterpoint research, which notes that this 1st quarter was a record high quarter with over $ 100 billion in revenue generated by smartphones.
As expected, high-performance devices made the most money – models costing $ 400 and up account for 65% of global revenue. The top 10 units in the picture below account for 46% of global revenue, but still make up only 21% of the units sold.
So it should come as no surprise that many vendors that started with value-for-money deals want to move up to the premium segment, this is where the money is.
Some markets just prefer advanced devices. The United States in particular saw the iPhone 12 Pro Max outsell vanilla 12, which is the opposite of the worldwide ranking. Similarly, the Galaxy S21 Ultra topped its cheaper siblings in the states as well as in Europe. Still, the S21 Ultra is not in the Top 10 for sales by volume and loses to the older iPhone 11 in terms of revenue.
Apple leads the $ 400 + segment, and its iPhone 12 series accounts for up to a third of global smartphone revenue in the first quarter of this year. Samsung topped the $ 150- $ 250 series (it was the most lucrative segment globally), the series under $ 150 led by Xiaomi.
