Apple ships 29 mn units of iPhone X in 4Q17

Apple shipped 29 million units of the iPhone X in the fourth quarter of 2017 even as it faced production delays early on.

Market research firm Canalys, which revealed the figure, added that this makes the iPhone X the best-shipped smartphone model during the holiday season.

Of the 29 million units shipped, seven million were in China, according to Canalys said. According to commentators, this is interesting when considering analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's investor note this week where he said that the iPhone X may reach end of life by mid-2018 due to low poor sales, especially in China. (See: Apple's iPhone X could reach 'end of life' in 2018)

They point out that while Canalys' research may sound positive, the iPhone X's sales are actually below industry expectations, due to which Kuo revised the estimate from 20-30 million units to 18 million units for the first quarter of 2018.

"Apple struggled with supply issues in early November (2017), but achieved a massive uplift in production in late November and throughout December. This helped it meet and even exceed demand in some markets by the end of the quarter," Ben Stanton, analyst at Canalys said.

Meanwhile, according to Kuo, Apple may release three new iPhone models this year including a slightly cheaper $700 (£500) 6.1-inch phone without 3D touch.

The new releases may include an updated iPhoneX with a 5.8-inch OLED screen and a larger 6.5-inch OLED model, potentially called the iPhone X Plus.

The 6.1-inch phone will come in an aluminium frame much like the iPhone 8 and the display will be an LCD panel instead of OLED, an expert has predicted.

According to Kuo, one of this year's sequels - the 5.8-inch phone dubbed the 'iPhone X2' - will have the same design as the current model but will feature a more powerful chip.