iPhone 8 Plus overtakes iPhone X as bestseller in Taiwan

Taipei, The 5.5-inch iPhone 8 Plus became the top-selling smartphone in Taiwan in January, edging out Apple's larger flagship model the iPhone X, according to market sources.

The premium 5.8-inch iPhone X was the bestseller for two months after it went on sale in the local market last November but lost ground to the 8 Plus, with Apple remaining the bestselling phone brand in Taiwan, the sources said.

The other top-selling phone models in January were the Samsung's Galaxy J7 Prime, China's OPPO R11S, the iPhone X 64GB, the Galaxy Note 8 64GB, the iPhone 8 64GB, the iPhone 8 Plus 256GB, the Galaxy J7 Pro, and Asustek's ZenFone Live, in that order, the sources said.

Apple had the highest sales volume, taking a 27 percent share of the total in January, followed by Samsung (20 percent), Asustek (10.8 percent), OPPO (8.9 percent) and Taiwan-based smartphone brand HTC Corp. (8.8 percent), according to the sources.

Japan's Sony brand was sixth with an 8.1 percent share, ahead of Finland's Nokia (2.7 percent), China's Huawei and Xiaomi, and telecom operator Taiwan Mobile, each of which took a 2.1 percent share, the sources said.

The total number of smartphones sold in Taiwan in January was 569,000, a decline of 7.3 percent from the previous month and lowest number in eight months, said the sources, which attributed the drop to the Lunar New Year, saying young consumers tend to wait until they receive their "red envelopes" to make big purchases.

In addition, telecom operators reduced their deals on cellphones, which affected buying interest, the sources said.

In terms of sales value, Apple was also at the top of the list in January because of its high prices, taking a 60.2 percent share, followed by Samsung in a distant second position with a 14.6 percent share, OPPO (6.1 percent), Sony (5.2 percent), HTC (4.9 percent), Asustek (3.8 percent), Huawei (1.4 percent), Xiaomi (0.9 percent), Nokia (0.5 percent) and Japan's Sharp Corp. (0.4 percent), the sources said.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel