Apple said on Thursday (November 2) that iPhone demand in China remains strong, in an attempt to reassure investors who are worrying that the tech giant is losing ground to China’s Huawei Technologies and other Chinese brands.
“In mainland China, we set a quarterly record for the September quarter for iPhone,” Chief Executive Tim Cook told Reuters in an interview. “We had four out of the top five best-selling smartphones in urban China.”
Cook reportedly said that Apple has gained market share in China in July-September period although overall smartphone market has contracted.
He added that the company expects increase in iPhone sales in the holiday quarter.
According to research firm Canalys, overall smartphone sales in China fell by 3 per cent in July-September as compared to a year earlier. The reason? Consumers bought fewer smartphones in the wake of weak economic recovery.
However, there are signs that the slump is gradually easing.
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Chinese firm Huawei saw its sales growing strongly in the quarter. Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro phone made news around the world for the advanced Chinese-made chip the company developed despite US sanctions.
On Thursday, Apple said that its overall sales dipped by 2.5 per cent. But it has been attributed it to lessened Mac computer and iPad sales for that.
In the fiscal year 2023, Apple’s sales in the country have fallen in three out of four quarters.
“While the latest iPhone series had underperformed in China in the launch quarter due to a shorter pre-holiday shopping period coupled with supply mismatches on the Pro Max, it could see improvement in the year-ending quarter with a strong 11.11 sales event performance,” research consultancy Counterpoint wrote in a note on Friday as quoted by Reuters.
