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Shoppers check out the latest iPhone models at the newly opened Apple Store in Sanlitun, Beijing, on July 17. Photo: Simon Song
Tech

Apple’s China iPhone sales surge amid price cuts and gradual consumer recovery

  • The US tech giant recorded a sales volume of 13 million iPhones in China in the June quarter, up from 4 million units in the first three months of this year
  • The iPhone’s strong showing in China during the past three months augurs well for Apple, which will report its latest quarterly financial results on July 30
Apple
Jane Zhang
Jane Zhang
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Demand for Apple’s iPhone in China surged in the second quarter, recording a 225 per cent quarterly growth in sales volume, amid price cuts as the world’s biggest smartphone market slowly recovers from the disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Apple had a sales volume of 13 million iPhones in China in the June quarter, up from 4 million units in the first three months of this year, according to data from Shanghai-based research firm CINNO.
That data aligned with a recent report from Counterpoint Research, which said Apple was the fastest-growing major smartphone brand last quarter in China, where Android device maker Huawei Technologies remained the market’s overall leader.

“Apple grew an impressive 32 per cent year on year due to the continued popularity of the iPhone 11 series and price cuts,” the Counterpoint report said. Apple devices typically sell for a hefty premium in China, compared with the US. The company’s latest iPhone SE model also quickly became one of the three bestselling iPhones in China the past quarter, according to Counterpoint.

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The iPhone’s strong showing in China during the past three months augurs well for Cupertino, California-based Apple, which will report its latest quarterly financial results on July 30. The iPhone accounted for about 49 per cent of Apple’s global sales in the March quarter.

Apple recorded total China sales of US$9.46 billion in the three months ended March 28, down less than a US$1 billion from a year ago, a potential sign of how the company might have fared in the June quarter when more markets emerged from coronavirus lockdowns.

The US technology giant counts Greater China – the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan – as its third biggest geographical market worldwide, behind the Americas and Europe. Many of the company’s contract manufacturing partners and parts suppliers have their factories in the Chinese mainland.

In the second quarter, Apple was the fourth-largest smartphone vendor in China, ahead of Xiaomi Corp, according to Counterpoint. It was behind Huawei, Vivo and Oppo.

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While iPhone demand in China increased in the past quarter, overall smartphone sales in the world’s second-largest economy is still recovering slowly, according to Counterpoint.

Research firm CINNO estimated that total smartphone sales volume in China reached 94 million units in the June quarter, which was about 90 per cent of the total volume shipped in the same period last year.

China’s smartphone sales plummeted 22 per cent in the first quarter – the largest year-on-year decline tracked in the country by Counterpoint – at the height of the coronavirus outbreak.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Apple’s iPhone sales in China surge amid price cuts and signs of recovery
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