China’s iPhone Sales Skyrocket In Q2

One day before Apple Inc. is set to release its latest earnings report, third-party figures reveal that its China iPhone sales increased by 225 percent as the recovery continues, CNBC reported.

The less expensive iPhone SE and popular iPhone 11 series, when combined with discounts, helped to make Apple the fastest-growing smartphone maker in China in the second quarter.

The Apple sales increase in one of its most critical markets bucked the trend of an overall decline in the country, according to Counterpoint Research, the Hong Kong market research firm.

There were 7.4 million iPhones sold in China from April through June, Counterpoint found. That’s a 32 percent year-over-year hike. 

Huawei, the popular Chinese phone maker, saw volumes reach 36.6 million units, a 14 percent rise compared to a year ago. 

But smartphone makers Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi, the other three most popular brands in China, all saw substantial sales drops. The overall market fell 17 percent over last year, the network reported. 

Since February, when Apple sold fewer than 500,000 phones, the company has been on a tear, partly sparked by the debut of the iPhone 11 series.  

“iPhone 11 remains the best-selling model in China,” Flora Tang, research analyst at Counterpoint, told CNBC.

On services, the App Store generated $4.4 billion in gross revenue in Q2, a 4 percent drop from the $4.6 billion seen in Q1, according to data from Sensor Tower Inc., the San Francisco-based data provider. Still, the new numbers represent a 13 percent year-on-year improvement.

“Spending on China’s App Store typically increases between Q1 and Q2 each year, but the quarter-to-quarter decline this year could be attributed to the ecosystem there normalizing following the height of COVID-19 in the country,” Stephanie Chan, mobile insights strategist, told CNBC.

Shipments of smartphones in China fell 16 percent in June compared to the same month one year earlier, according to government data, a sign that handset demand in the nation with a population of 1.4 billion remains lukewarm.

Earlier this month, Apple opened its newest store at Taikoo Li Sanlitun, a Beijing shopping center that features 1.3 million square feet of retail space. The 77,000-square-foot Apple Sanlitun is more than twice the size of the original store at the mall that opened in 2008.