The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 was the best-selling smartphone in Taiwan following its global launch last month, industry insiders said.
The new iPhone attracted consumers not only because of its novelty, but also because many consumers in the market for a high-end mobile phone turned away from Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy Note 7, which the company eventually stopped selling following a series of battery explosions and fires.
The iPhone 7 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus have been on sale in Taiwan since Sept. 16.
It was the first time Apple Inc included Taiwan in the first group of nations in which a new iPhone series went on sale.
The sources said the 128 gigabyte (GB) iPhone 7 was the best-selling smartphone by number of units last month, followed by the iPhone 7 Plus, this year’s version of Samsung’s Galaxy J7, Taiwan-based PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) ZenFone 3 ZE552KL and the 32GB iPhone 7.
Asustek is one of several Taiwanese PC brands hoping to gain a foothold in the smartphone market to limit the negative impact of a slowdown in the global PC market.
Its ZenFone series targets the mid-range market.
Asustek’s ZenFone3 ZE520KL came in sixth ahead of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp’s (宏達電) HTC Desire 728 dual-sim, Japan-based Sony Corp’s Xperia XA, telecom service provider Taiwan Mobile Co’s (台灣大) Amazing X3s and the ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL.
The Galaxy Note 7 was the best-selling handset in Taiwan in August, when it was launched worldwide.
Due to the warm reception of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple had the highest share of smartphone revenue in Taiwan last month at 61.6 percent, followed by Samsung, Asustek, HTC and Sony, the sources said.
In terms of sales volume, Apple also gained the No. 1 spot by taking a 29 percent share of the Taiwan market last month, ahead of Samsung, Asustek, HTC and Sony, the sources added.
This month, 684,000 smartphones have been sold in Taiwan, representing an increase of about 20,000 units from last month, the sources said.
It was the third consecutive month unit sales in Taiwan posted month-on-month growth, the sources added.
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