Apple’s iPhone shipments in China surged by 12 percent in March after the company and its merchants cut prices, according to statistics from a Chinese government-affiliated research organization.
Shipments of foreign-branded phones in China grew by 12 percent in March to 3.75 million units, up from 3.35 million the previous year, according to figures released on Wednesday by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT).
Although the survey did not specifically identify Apple, the business is the leading foreign phone manufacturer in China’s smartphone-dominated market.
This shows that the surge in foreign-branded phone shipments is due to Apple’s performance.
Apple’s sales increase in March coincided with a ramped-up discounting push conducted by the firm and third-party vendors in the run-up to the month, with some iPhone 15 models available at savings of up to 10%.
The price decreases appear to have increased demand and aided the company’s growth in the Chinese market.
This represents a big improvement over the first two months of 2024, when Apple’s sales fell 37%, according to Reuters calculations based on CAICT data.
The key cause for Apple’s sales decline was Huawei’s announcement and successful sales of a high-end smartphone in August of the previous year.
Apple’s sales in the Greater China region for the fiscal second quarter ended March 30 were $16.37 billion, down 8.1% but higher than analyst projections of $15.59 billion, according to Visible Alpha statistics.
