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Apple rolled the dice and released two new versions of the iPhone this year, and so far, that strategy isn't paying off, as the iPhone 8 looks to be a rare misstep by the world's most valuable company.

The latest quarterly smartphone report from market analyst firm Canalys is just the most recent sign that the iPhone 8 hasn't been a success.

Apple shipped an estimated 11.8 million units of the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus devices during the third quarter, which was well below the combined 14 million shipments of the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus during the same period last year.

But the shipment drop-off isn't because Apple is shipping less iPhones across the board. The company actually has the two most shipped devices on the market, according to Canalys. The iPhone 7 is the most popular smartphone in the world, with an estimated 13 million units shipped, while the two-year-old iPhone 6S came in second with an estimated 7.9 million units shipped as consumers jumped at one last shot at an Apple device with a headphone jack.

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The older phones trounced the iPhone 8 variants, which didn't even crack the top five list in the third quarter. Those last three spots were held by budget devices from Samsung and Chinese smartphone maker Oppo, which are popular in the Asian market. The iPhone 8 Plus was the more successful device, with an estimated 6.3 million of the 11.8 million total, while the standard 8 variant accounted for the other 5.4 million units.

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The brand new iPhone 8 doesn't even crack the top 5.Credit: canalys

These shipment estimates are just the latest confirmation that the iPhone 8 hasn't been as well-received by consumers as other iPhone models in the past. The device's release events were subdued compared to the fervor that came with the iPhone X over a month later, and early reports from wireless carriers claimed the new devices were being outsold by the iPhone 7.

The iPhone 8 has been discounted aggressively in China by online retailers in an attempt to spur tepid sales. Apple, meanwhile, has reportedly cut its orders from its manufacturing partners for the remainder of the year by over 50 percent and removed the 256 GB iPhone 7 variant from its stores to make the 8 more attractive to consumers looking to upgrade.

The market clearly hasn't been kind to the iPhone 8 — but that hasn't necessarily been all bad for Apple. By offering more options across the iPhone line at more accessible prices, the company was able to ship a combined 46.7 million units during the quarter (a number that was confirmed by Tim Cook on the company's quarterly earnings call), which were the driving force behind the companies astounding revenue numbers.

This is all before the release of the iPhone X, which was estimated to receive around 50 million pre-orders alone — so Apple is doing just fine even with laggard iPhone 8 shipments, and next quarter will likely be even bigger.

Canalys analyst Ben Stanton agrees that Apple is okay with its shipments being spread across multiple generations of iPhones. "Apple is clearly making a portfolio play here," he said in a statement accompanying the report. "With the launch of the iPhone X, it now has five tiers of iPhone and delivers iOS at more price bands than ever before.”

In other words, even when Apple loses on one product, it still wins. People want iPhones, even if they're not buying the brightest, newest model.

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