Apple’s iPhone Sales Surge in China

Sales of Apple’s iPhone in China shot up over 18% last month, according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government-related group of experts.

The news caused Apple’s stock to climb more than 2% on Thursday, recording a new all-time high of $309.63 after the market close.

The data showed that the tech giant shipped 3.2 million iPhones to China up until the end of December, as opposed to the 2.7 million phones shipped by December 2018. China is an essential growth market for Apple, which has had a hard time there against the Android phone makers.

The trade dispute between the US and China has brought up concerns that US companies operating in China could suffer. China is highly important for Apple, not only for sales, but also for the manufacturing of its products.

Apart from the trade war, analysts also warned that Apple could struggle in the next few quarters without a 5G-capable iPhone on the market as China turns to the latest generation, 5G mobile networks.

Apple’s reported revenue in China in Q1 2019 was $13.17 billion, $5 billion less than the Q1 2018.

Counterpoint Research, a research firm specializing in tech products, published data that shows that Apple held just 8% of the market share in China during the Q3 2019, which is 1% lower compared to the same time frame in 2018. Huawei dominates the China market with the 40 per cent share, followed by Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi.

However, the latest news on iPhone’s growing sales in China are a sign of optimism for the company, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote on Thursday.

Wedbush set Apple’s stock rating to Outperform with a 12-month price target of $350.