Apple noticed its first year-over-year iPhone gross sales development in China in two years in the course of the second quarter of 2025, in line with new information from Counterpoint Analysis, marking a short lived reversal of a protracted decline in one in every of its most strategically important markets.
The information signifies that iPhone gross sales in mainland China grew 8% year-over-year between April 1 and June 22, 2025. This era represents Apple’s first quarterly gross sales improve within the area because the second quarter of 2023. The expansion is attributed primarily to aggressive value changes in Could, forward of the nation’s mid-year 618 purchasing pageant, and bolstered by a nationwide subsidy program that supported smartphone purchases.
In Could, Chinese language e-commerce platforms comparable to JD.com and Tmall began providing heavy reductions on the iPhone 16 lineup, in some instances providing as much as 2,530 yuan ($351) off retail costs. Concurrently, Apple elevated the worth of trade-in credit for older iPhone fashions to incentivize upgrades. Choose units priced beneath 6,000 yuan bought straight from Apple additionally certified for as much as 500 yuan in authorities subsidies, with sure Mac fashions eligible for reductions of as a lot as 2,000 yuan.
Apple’s rebound in China follows a protracted downturn. From the third quarter of 2022 via the primary quarter of 2025, Apple skilled year-over-year income declines in China for all however one quarter. Contributing components included persistent commerce tensions, regulatory stress, restrictions on iPhone use in government-linked workplaces, and competitors from resurgent home manufacturers. Within the first quarter of 2025, Apple was the one main smartphone producer to report a cargo decline in China.
Through the second quarter of 2025, Huawei led all producers in China by development and market share, posting a 12% year-over-year gross sales improve, adopted by Vivo, which skilled a 9% decline. Apple ranked third in total unit shipments.
Apple additionally faces competitors from Xiaomi and Oppo, which proceed to focus on price-sensitive segments with {hardware} choices which can be broadly comparable with Apple’s, however at a decrease value. Counterpoint claims that the Chinese language smartphone market as an entire grew by roughly 1% in the course of the quarter.
Nonetheless, Counterpoint analysts warn that Apple’s development within the second quarter might not persist into the second half of the yr, partly as a result of the nationwide subsidy on smartphones is prone to be scaled again in the course of the second half of 2025.
China is a vital marketplace for Apple. The nation is believed to account for round 20% of world iPhone gross sales. Apple is scheduled to report its fiscal third-quarter earnings on July 31, which ought to embody last figures for the April to June interval coated within the Counterpoint evaluation. The outcomes ought to supply a fuller image of the corporate’s efficiency in China and different international markets.
