IPhone shipments increased by 10% for Apple... Stockpiling ahead of Trump tariffs
Apple increasing shipments in anticipation of tariffs (Source: Reuters)
Apple increased its iPhone shipments by 10% in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous year, raising its market share. However, this shipment increase is interpreted as a pre-emptive market release of products in anticipation of the high tariff policy led by President Donald Trump's U.S. administration, rather than due to an increase in consumer demand.
According to market research firm IDC, Apple shipped approximately 57.9 million iPhones worldwide from January to March. This is a 10% increase compared to the same period last year, greatly exceeding the global smartphone market's overall shipment growth rate of 1.5%. As a result, Apple's market share rose from 17.5% to 19.0%, narrowing the gap with Samsung Electronics (19.9%) to less than 1%.
However, IDC analyzed that this shipment increase has a strong characteristic of stockpiling in anticipation of tariff risks, rather than actual consumer purchasing demand. It is known that Apple and other U.S. technology companies have been preemptively responding to the Trump administration's tariff policy by stocking up inventory in U.S. distribution channels months in advance. IDC explained, “This supply expansion is a strategic decision to minimize cost increases and supply chain disruptions, and there is an aspect that the actual demand forecast was excessively shipped.”
The background of this measure lies in President Trump's tough tariff policy on Chinese products. The Trump administration has announced tariffs of up to 145% on products imported from China. However, on the 11th, it announced that it would exclude reciprocal tariffs on smartphones and some electronic products, causing confusion. However, the policy of imposing separate tariffs on certain items, such as semiconductors, remains in place, so smartphones are not completely exempt.
During the same period, other smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Xiaomi, and Oppo either slightly increased or decreased their shipments, but none showed double-digit growth like Apple. Samsung Electronics shipped 60.6 million units, maintaining the number one position with a market share of 19.9%, but its shipment growth rate was only 0.6%.
Meanwhile, as uncertainty related to tariffs continued, Apple's stock price rose along with the increase in shipments, but there is also a sense of caution in the market that this shipment expansion is only a temporary effect. There remains the possibility that President Trump will readjust the tariff policy in the future, so tensions among major technology companies, including Apple, continue.