A Turnaround in China

Two years ago, Apple was having serious problems in China — enough to prompt the company to revise its revenue forecast for the first time in two decades.

However, while Apple struggled through most of 2019 to gain traction in that country with its iPhone XS/XR lineup, things began to turnaround in early 2020 thanks to the iPhone 11, and this was bolstered even further by the iPhone SE.

Today, however, it’s hard to believe that Apple ever had a problem in China, as during this last quarter, it saw a staggering 57% rise in iPhone sales in that country. In fact, the Chinese market accounted for almost a third of the Q1 2021 iPhone sales, at $21.3 billion.

In an interview with Reuters, Tim Cook revealed that two of the top three selling smartphones in urban China were iPhones, and that upgraders actually set an all-time record in that country, confirming reports last week that Apple has been significantly eating into Huawei’s sales with the iPhone 12 Pro, which has turned out to be overwhelmingly popular in China.