After a protracted stoop, Apple’s enterprise is all of a sudden thriving once more in China. The tech large mentioned in its newest earnings report final week that income from the nation rose 38 p.c yr over yr within the final quarter, primarily pushed by surging demand for iPhones. The rebound got here after Apple’s China gross sales had declined for 18 consecutive months between 2024 and early 2025.
In a name with analysts, CEO Tim Cook dinner mentioned Apple set a brand new file for iPhone upgrades amongst Chinese language clients and noticed double-digit development within the variety of customers switching from different working programs to iOS. “Total, an awesome quarter in China. We couldn’t be happier with it,” Cook dinner concluded in his signature monotone voice.
Apple’s incredible efficiency got here as a shock to many observers of the Chinese language smartphone market. In recent times, homegrown manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi have chipped away at Apple’s market share by releasing premium, feature-packed gadgets that instantly compete with the iPhone. Huawei, for example, surprised the tech trade when it launched a $2,800 smartphone with a trifold display in September 2024, lengthy earlier than rivals put out related merchandise.
Essentially the most placing factor about Apple’s comeback in China is the way it pulled it off. As an alternative of attempting to compete by growing flashier tech, it merely launched a brand new iPhone that’s each highly effective and competitively priced, consultants inform WIRED. Though there are gadgets from native manufacturers that technically have higher cameras and extra subtle synthetic intelligence capabilities (Apple Intelligence is just not but obtainable in mainland China), many patrons nonetheless opted for Apple’s iPhone 17 line.
That implies Chinese language shoppers proceed to care extra about Apple’s model energy and design options than marginal technical enhancements. “It is a good story should you’re Apple. It is the identical previous story should you’re not Apple,” says Gerrit Schneemann, a senior analyst protecting Apple at Counterpoint, a world expertise analysis agency.
Apple owes a lot of its success in China final quarter to gross sales of the baseline iPhone 17 mannequin. Historically, shoppers who purchase iPhones at launch are likely to gravitate towards the higher-end Professional and Professional Max gadgets However in 2025, the baseline iPhone 17 represented a a lot larger step up from the iPhone 16 than traditional, together with options historically solely related to the Professional sequence. That will have motivated extra individuals to improve ahead of traditional after the brand new telephones got here out, Schneemann says.
However Apple’s product technique wasn’t the one necessary issue right here. The iPhone 17 was priced low sufficient to qualify for a large electronics subsidy program launched by the Chinese language authorities final yr. To assist stimulate the financial system, Beijing spent some $43 billion subsidizing home purchases of electronics, home equipment, and automobiles in 2025. Smartphones offered for lower than 6,000 RMB (about $860) have been eligible for as much as a 15 p.c low cost. Apple listed the iPhone 17 in China for five,999 RMB, making certain price-sensitive patrons would be capable of profit from the federal government coverage.
The state subsidy additionally arrived at a second when many Chinese language iPhone customers have been seemingly due for an improve anyway. “Apple’s final peak gross sales interval got here with the iPhone 13 sequence, and after a span of three to 4 years, its current customers have regularly entered the improve cycle this yr,” says Arthur Guo, a Beijing-based analysis supervisor at IDC, a world market evaluation agency.
None of those explanations point out that Apple’s Chinese language rivals are doing something unsuitable. Guo notes that home manufacturers have additionally skilled vital development not too long ago. Costly flagship fashions from manufacturers like Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo have “remained sturdy throughout the board—with much more notable development recorded for the higher-priced Professional/Professional Max variants,” Guo says.
