Apple smartphone market share has reportedly risen from 37 percent to 44 percent in the U.S., representing its highest point in history on Apple’s home turf.

According to research from Counterpoint’s Market Pulse program, Apple shipped a record 22 million iPhones in the 2017 holiday quarter, representing the first time the company has ever achieved this. While iPhone X may be weaker than expected worldwide, the report claims that this lower demand is not the case in the U.S.

Counterpoint Research director Jeff Fieldhack says Apple’s feat is even more notable and impressive due to the company’s marketing push in the quarter being “not nearly as aggressive” as in previous years.

“There has been a lot of chatter that the iPhone X has disappointed on a global level which is partly true not only for Q4 2017 but also moving into 2018 as a result of the higher price which ensured the demand remained softer than expected,” research director Neil Shah said. “But this has not been the case in the U.S. market and outlook looks positive for Apple in its home market for 2018. U.S. consumers on an average are probably on their third or fourth iPhone and are willing to pay for the Apple ecosystem which is much stronger and sticky in USA than for example in China.”

In the holiday quarter, Shah says that the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus were the top three selling phones in the U.S. market, but that the iPhone X outsold the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus by a 2:1 margin.

“What this means is the super-premium segment (above $800) has grown from almost 0 percent in previous years to 25 percent share of the total smartphones sold in USA during Q4 2017, which speaks volumes for the potential of USA market and the US consumers’ buying power,” the report notes.

Apple is due to announce its quarterly earnings on Thursday. Despite the recent negativity about iPhone X demand, investors are expecting big things!

Source: Counterpoint Research