"After a prolonged slump, Apple's business is suddenly thriving again in China. The tech giant said in its latest earnings report last week that revenue from the country rose 38 percent year over year in the last quarter, primarily driven by surging demand for iPhones. The rebound came after Apple's China sales had declined for 18 consecutive months between 2024 and early 2025."
"In a call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook said Apple set a new record for iPhone upgrades among Chinese customers and saw double-digit growth in the number of users switching from other operating systems to iOS. "Overall, a great quarter in China. We could not be happier with it," Cook concluded in his signature monotone voice. Apple's fantastic performance came as a surprise to many observers of the Chinese smartphone market."
"The most striking thing about Apple's comeback in China is how it pulled it off. Instead of trying to compete by developing flashier tech, it simply released a new iPhone that is both powerful and competitively priced, experts tell WIRED. Even though there are devices from local brands that technically have better cameras and more sophisticated artificial intelligence capabilities (Apple Intelligence is not yet available in mainland China), many buyers still opted for Apple's iPhone 17 line."
Apple's China revenue increased 38 percent year over year last quarter, led primarily by strong iPhone demand. The rebound followed an 18-month decline in China sales between 2024 and early 2025. Apple achieved record iPhone upgrades among Chinese customers and double-digit growth in users switching from other operating systems to iOS. The recovery surprised observers amid intense competition from local brands such as Huawei and Xiaomi, which released premium, feature-rich devices. Apple prioritized a powerful, competitively priced iPhone rather than flashier hardware, and many buyers favored Apple's brand power and design over marginal technical improvements.
Read at WIRED
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]