Apple is aiming for sustained, robust growth in China after strong iPhone sales helped it post record revenue of US$3.8 billion in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the quarter to June.
Year-on-year sales in the market grew more than sixfold, according to Apple chief operating officer Timothy Cook.
The iPhone and iPad maker yesterday reported what it described as 'all-time record revenue and earnings' in its fiscal third quarter. Global sales rose 82 per cent to US$28.6 billion, compared with the same period a year earlier, and net income climbed 125 per cent to US$7.31 billion on the back of hefty demand for its popular smartphone and media tablet. Sales in the Asia-Pacific region grew 247 per cent to US$6.3 billion, which accounted for nearly 25 per cent of total revenue for Apple.
'China was very key to our results [in the region],' Cook said in the company's quarterly earnings call with analysts yesterday. 'I firmly believe that we're just scratching the surface right now. I think there is an incredible opportunity for Apple [in China].'
Cook estimated that Apple sales in the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan had reached around US$8.8 billion through the first three quarters of the company's current fiscal year.
He said the iPhone remained 'the key contributor' to hefty sales in China, but he did not provide market-specific figures.
Speculation has been rife that China Mobile, the world's largest wireless network operator, and mainland fixed-line giant China Telecom will soon become Apple's next domestic carrier-partners for the iPhone after China Unicom. That expansion was expected to swiftly broaden the availability of the iPhone in the country.
