Chinese iPhone shipments saw a significant boost of around 12% in March after Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and its retailers implemented price cuts, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing official data.
Government figures revealed that shipments of foreign-branded smartphones—predominantly Apple devices—rose to 3.75 million units in March, a turnaround from a 37% slump in the first two months of 2024, as calculated by Bloomberg from a monthly report by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
This official data emerged after Apple CEO Tim Cook, while addressing analysts' questions last week, noted that iPhone sales in mainland China had grown in the March quarter, without elaborating further.
Apple has been working to revitalize its Chinese business since 2023, as local competitors like Huawei Technologies and an unofficial ban on iPhone usage in state agencies and firms dented its second-most-important market after the U.S.
Despite foreign phone shipments falling 27% in the first quarter of 2024 overall, Apple's strategic price reductions around the start of the year helped it beat expectations with a strong quarterly revenue report from China, countering months of accelerating iPhone sales declines.
Investors keep a close eye on Apple's performance in China due to its significance as both a large consumer market and a global production hub for the iPhone.
Apple stock rose 0.5% in premarket trading.