iPhone sales may be rebounding in China after a new China Information and Communications Research Institute report suggests that Apple sold 2.5 million iPhones there during the month of March.
Due to the coronavirus-related dip in sales in February, during which Apple sold just 500,000 handsets, that’s a massive 416% increase month-on-month.
A Barrons report, published Monday, says that the iPhone was by far the biggest recovering handsets in China in terms of percentage increase compared to February. Overall handset sales in China were up 241% on-month to a total of 21.8 million units.
While a big increase, that’s still down 23% from this time last year. Android phones represented 88% of the Chinese smartphone market in March.
iPhone sales could make another big leap forward in China in April. That’s because prices have been slashed in the country. In early April, Apple made price cuts on iPhones including the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. Other third-party retailers are also joining in with their own price cuts.
Beyond this, spending habits returning to normal reflects how China is moving out of coronavirus lockdown. The country already appears to have weathered the worst of the COVID-19 storm. The supply chain is largely back to normal, and Chinese cities are starting to open up again. This includes Apple Stores which have reopened for business in China.
With a new low-cost iPhone ready to launch any day, and the first 5G iPhones coming this fall, things are looking promising for Apple’s sales in one of the world’s biggest markets.
