Apple’s iPhone shipments in China rise 52% as rebound gains steam

Apple Inc.’s iPhone staged a rebound in China last month with shipments rising 52 per cent amid a flurry of discounts from retail partners.

The latest figures from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed smartphone shipments surging in the country, of which roughly 3.5 million units came from foreign brands, according to a Bloomberg calculation.

The iPhone accounts for the vast majority of such devices, and its rapid bounceback comes after it registered growth in March following steep declines in the first two months of the year.

Apple and its Chinese resellers have been cutting prices since the start of 2024, and those deals are extending into the sale season that accompanies the June 18th shopping festival in the country. Cupertino, California-based Apple had seen double-digit declines in sales of its latest generation of handsets, as it lost premium market share to Huawei Technologies Co.

The iPhone’s slide in China may be coming to an end, according to Bloomberg Intelligence analysts, as consumers expressed a higher interest in upgrading to new devices in a recent poll.

“The iPhone’s shrinking China market share could stabilize soon, as our latest survey shows Apple’s comeback as Chinese consumers’ favorite smartphone brand after being displaced by Huawei,” analysts Steven Tseng and Sean Chen wrote.

“We believe the reversal in user interest could be due to the premiumization trend in China, amplified by consumer fatigue after long waiting times for Huawei’s premium models,” they wrote. “More than half of survey respondents say they’re willing to spend more than 4,000 yuan ($550) on their next phone vs. just 33 per cent who currently use premium handsets.”