After a protracted hunch, Apple’s enterprise is out of the blue thriving once more in China. The tech big stated in its newest earnings report final week that income from the nation rose 38 % 12 months over 12 months 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 stated Apple set a brand new document for iPhone upgrades amongst Chinese clients and noticed double-digit development within the variety of customers switching from different working techniques to iOS. “Overall, a great quarter in China. We could not be happier with it,” Cook concluded in his signature monotone voice.
Apple’s unbelievable efficiency got here as a shock to many observers of the Chinese smartphone market. In current years, homegrown manufacturers like Huawei and Xiaomi have chipped away at Apple’s market share by releasing premium, feature-packed units that straight compete with the iPhone. Huawei, as an example, shocked the tech business when it launched a $2,800 smartphone with a trifold display in September 2024, lengthy earlier than rivals put out comparable merchandise.
The most placing factor about Apple’s comeback in China is the way it pulled it off. Instead 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. Even although there are units from native manufacturers that technically have higher cameras and extra refined synthetic intelligence capabilities (Apple Intelligence will not be but obtainable in mainland China), many consumers nonetheless opted for Apple’s iPhone 17 line.
That suggests Chinese customers proceed to care extra about Apple’s model energy and design options than marginal technical enhancements. “It’s a good story if you’re Apple. It’s the same old story if you’re not Apple,” says Gerrit Schneemann, a senior analyst masking 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. Traditionally, customers who purchase iPhones at launch are likely to gravitate towards the higher-end Pro and Pro Max units But in 2025, the baseline iPhone 17 represented a a lot greater step up from the iPhone 16 than typical, together with options historically solely related to the Pro collection. That might have motivated extra individuals to improve before typical after the brand new telephones got here out, Schneemann says.
But Apple’s product technique wasn’t the one essential issue right here. The iPhone 17 was priced low sufficient to qualify for an enormous electronics subsidy program launched by the Chinese authorities final 12 months. To assist stimulate the economic system, Beijing spent some $43 billion subsidizing home purchases of electronics, home equipment, and vehicles in 2025. Smartphones offered for lower than 6,000 RMB (about $860) have been eligible for as much as a 15 % low cost. Apple listed the iPhone 17 in China for five,999 RMB, making certain price-sensitive consumers would have the ability to profit from the federal government coverage.
The state subsidy additionally arrived at a second when many Chinese iPhone customers have been possible due for an improve anyway. “Apple’s last peak sales period came with the iPhone 13 series, and after a span of three to four years, its existing users have gradually entered the upgrade cycle this year,” 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 rivals are doing something fallacious. Guo notes that home manufacturers have additionally skilled vital development just lately. Expensive flagship fashions from manufacturers like Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo have “remained strong across the board—with even more notable growth recorded for the higher-priced Pro/Pro Max variants,” Guo says.
https://www.wired.com/story/how-iphones-made-a-surprising-comeback-in-china/