iPhone X Sales: Apple Earnings Report Indicates Expensive Phone Beat Expectations

Reports of the iPhone X’s demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated, according to Apple's earnings report Tuesday. After months of speculation that Apple’s premium, costly smartphone doing poorly, the global tech giant’s second-quarter earnings report indicated the opposite.

iPhone sales in total are up nearly three percent from the same time last year. The iPhone X, which retailed at $1,000 for the base model, surprised many by actually being Apple’s anchor for the fiscal quarter. CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the iPhone X was the top-selling iPhone each week last quarter Tuesday.

“We’re thrilled to report our best March quarter ever, with strong revenue growth in iPhone, Services and Wearables,” Cook said. “Customers chose iPhone X more than any other iPhone each week in the March quarter, just as they did following its launch in the December quarter. We also grew revenue in all of our geographic segments, with over 20 percent growth in Greater China and Japan.”

Analysts appeared bearish in the weeks leading up to the earnings report, stoking fear that demand for the high-end phone was too low to justify its production. CNBC's Jim Cramer said on Tuesday that Apple "sold more iPhones than most of the bullish analysts thought, including the X, which the community had derided endlessly."

Apple's price of shares dropped precipitously in anticipation that the company would confirm that fear, a confirmation that never came, according to the Chicago Tribune. Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed roughly 5 percent to $177.55 by Wednesday afternoon and after it announced a $100 billion stock buyback

The doomsday expectations surrounding the iPhone X came from a string of reports that third-party hardware suppliers slowed down production, signaling declining demand to analysts. That was coupled with reports that the cheaper iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models had outsold their more expensive sibling.

The idea, which seemed reasonable before Apple’s earnings report, was that a $1,000 cell phone was simply too much for most consumers. Instead, the numbers indicated there is at least something resembling a market for the iPhone X, which is more expensive than any phone Apple has manufactured before it.

Instead, Apple’s smartphone revenue went up to $38 billion, a 14 percent increase. The company also reported growing revenues in its digital services, like iTunes and Apple Music.