The iPhone 8 launch has seen Apple return to growth in China after six consecutive quarters of declining sales in the world’s most populous country. The report comes from Canalys, which says that iPhone sales grew by a dramatic 40% year-on-year.
The company says that Q3 sales, which include the iPhone 8, hits 11 million, up from 8M in the same quarter last year. However, warns the firm, that growth could be short-lived despite excitement about the iPhone X …
Research analyst Mo Jia says that both price and supply constraints mean that the iPhone X isn’t going to help Apple much in Q4.
While Apple’s growth was impressive, most competing brands also saw significant growth, leaving Apple in fifth place behind Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Apple is the only non-Chinese brand in the top five.
Canalys says that the iPhone 8 has sold better in China than last year’s iPhone 7, despite competing with the iPhone X. This contrasts with the USA, where CIRP reported that the iPhone 8 was not selling as well as either the iPhone 7 or iPhone 6, and was in fact selling in smaller numbers than an ‘S’ model.
So far as the iPhone X is concerned, Apple said last week that demand was ‘off the charts‘ as shipping dates started slipping within minutes of preorders going live.
