Apple Inc’s iPhone staged a rebound in China last month with shipments rising 52 percent amid a flurry of discounts from retail partners.
The latest figures from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed smartphone shipments surging in the country, of which about 3.5 million units came from foreign brands, according to a Bloomberg calculation.
The iPhone accounts for the vast majority of such devices, and its rebound comes after it registered growth in March following steep declines in the first two months of the year.
Photo: Reuters
Apple and its Chinese resellers have been cutting prices since the start of this year, and those deals are extending into the sale season that accompanies the June 18 shopping festival in the country.
Cupertino, California-based Apple had seen double-digit declines in sales of its latest generation of handsets, as it lost premium market share to Huawei Technologies Co (華為).
“The growth reflects two things: Apple was preparing for the 618 online shopping festival, which we could see from its recent price discounts,” said Will Wong, an analyst at industry tracker International Data Corp. “The resilient high-end users showed signs of buying better mobile devices to use for a longer time, which in turn will lead to longer replacement cycles.”
April is traditionally a low-volume month for the iPhone maker and so small changes in purchases can result in large swings.
Earlier this month, a Bloomberg Intelligence poll of consumers in China showed the iPhone returning as the most favored mobile device and an uptick in interest in upgrading to new devices.
“The iPhone’s shrinking China market share could stabilize soon, as our latest survey shows Apple’s comeback as Chinese consumers’ favorite smartphone brand after being displaced by Huawei,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Steven Tseng (曾緒良) and Sean Chen wrote.
“We believe the reversal in user interest could be due to the premiumization trend in China,” they wrote. “More than half of survey respondents say they’re willing to spend more than 4,000 yuan [US$552] on their next phone vs just 33 percent who currently use premium handsets.”
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