After 8 sluggish quarters, iPhone sales in China grew by 40%

By Anuj Sharma - October 31, 2017
apple china
It is also the first time company has registered a higher year-on-year sales making it Apple’s best performance in China in the last eight quarters, where its growth has slowed considerably since th....

Apple declining streak in China has come to an end, as shipments grew 40 per cent from eight million in the third quarter of 2016 to about 11 million this quarter, research firm Canalys has said.

It is also the first time company has registered a higher year-on-year sales making it Apple’s best performance in China in the last eight quarters, where its growth has slowed considerably since the launch of the iPhone 6S.

The mix of the iPhone 8 series at launch is also higher than the corresponding mix of the iPhone 7 series at launch last year. However, despite launching three new devices this year, Apple’s success in China could be short-lived.

“Apple’s growth this quarter is only temporary. The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X. Price cuts on earlier models after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. However, Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4,” said Canalys Research Analyst Mo Jia.

“Despite being touted as widely expensive, the iPhone X will enjoy a healthy grey market status, but its popularity is unlikely to help Apple in the short term,” added Jia.

Apple will report its fiscal fourth quarter earnings, which include China sales data, on Thursday.

Canalys which studies the Chinese smartphone market each quarter said that the smartphone shipments registered another quarter of decline as the market contracted five per cent in the third quarter of 2017 to 119 million units.

Huawei, Oppo and Vivo took 19 per cent, 18 per cent and 17 per cent market share, respectively. With 23 per cent growth and shipping over 22 million units, Huawei leads the market, while Oppo declined slightly (compared to the stellar performance a year ago) shipping 21 million units.

Vivo, with a 26 per cent growth was the most impressive performer in the top three, shipping over 20 million units. Xiaomi and Apple round up the top five this quarter.

 

  • Tags
  • Apple
  • XIaomi
  • Vivo
  • Oppo