How iPhones Made a Surprising Comeback in China

After a prolonged slump, Apple’s concern is abruptly thriving again successful China. The tech elephantine said successful its latest net study past week that gross from the state roseate 38 percent twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth successful the past quarter, chiefly driven by surging request for iPhones. The rebound came aft Apple’s China income had declined for 18 consecutive months betwixt 2024 and aboriginal 2025.

In a telephone with analysts, CEO Tim Cook said Apple acceptable a caller grounds for iPhone upgrades among Chinese customers and saw double-digit maturation successful the fig of users switching from different operating systems to iOS. “Overall, a large 4th successful China. We could not beryllium happier with it,” Cook concluded successful his signature monotone voice.

Apple’s fantastic show came arsenic a astonishment to galore observers of the Chinese smartphone market. In caller years, homegrown brands similar Huawei and Xiaomi person chipped distant astatine Apple’s marketplace stock by releasing premium, feature-packed devices that straight vie with the iPhone. Huawei, for instance, stunned the tech manufacture erstwhile it released a $2,800 smartphone with a trifold surface successful September 2024, agelong earlier competitors enactment retired akin products.

The astir striking happening astir Apple’s comeback successful China is however it pulled it off. Instead of trying to vie by processing flashier tech, it simply released a caller iPhone that is some almighty and competitively priced, experts archer WIRED. Even though determination are devices from section brands that technically person amended cameras and much blase artificial quality capabilities (Apple Intelligence is not yet disposable successful mainland China), galore buyers inactive opted for Apple’s iPhone 17 line.

That suggests Chinese consumers proceed to attraction much astir Apple's marque powerfulness and plan features than marginal method improvements. “It's a bully communicative if you're Apple. It's the aforesaid aged communicative if you're not Apple,” says Gerrit Schneemann, a elder expert covering Apple astatine Counterpoint, a planetary exertion probe firm.

Apple owes overmuch of its occurrence successful China past 4th to income of the baseline iPhone 17 model. Traditionally, consumers who bargain iPhones astatine motorboat thin to gravitate toward the higher-end Pro and Pro Max devices But successful 2025, the baseline iPhone 17 represented a overmuch bigger measurement up from the iPhone 16 than usual, including features traditionally lone associated with the Pro series. That whitethorn person motivated much radical to upgrade sooner than accustomed aft the caller phones came out, Schneemann says.

But Apple’s merchandise strategy wasn’t the lone important origin here. The iPhone 17 was priced debased capable to suffice for a monolithic electronics subsidy programme launched by the Chinese authorities past year. To assistance stimulate the economy, Beijing spent immoderate $43 cardinal subsidizing home purchases of electronics, appliances, and cars successful 2025. Smartphones sold for little than 6,000 RMB (about $860) were eligible for up to a 15 percent discount. Apple listed the iPhone 17 successful China for 5,999 RMB, ensuring price-sensitive buyers would beryllium capable to payment from the authorities policy.

The authorities subsidy besides arrived astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile galore Chinese iPhone users were apt owed for an upgrade anyway. “Apple’s past highest income play came with the iPhone 13 series, and aft a span of 3 to 4 years, its existing users person gradually entered the upgrade rhythm this year,” says Arthur Guo, a Beijing-based probe manager astatine IDC, a planetary marketplace investigation firm.

None of these explanations bespeak that Apple’s Chinese competitors are doing thing wrong. Guo notes that home brands person besides experienced important maturation recently. Expensive flagship models from brands similar Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo person “remained beardown crossed the board—with adjacent much notable maturation recorded for the higher-priced Pro/Pro Max variants,” Guo says.