iPhone 8 breaks Apple's decline in China, questions remain around iPhone X

This fall's launch of the iPhone 8 appears to have reversed six quarters of declining iPhone sales in China, in fact giving Apple 40 percent growth year-over-year for the September quarter, according to research estimates published on Monday.

Apple shipped approximately 11 million iPhones during the period versus 8 million a year ago, Canalys said. The firm also noted that the iPhone 8 represented a higher proportion of units than the iPhone 7 did at launch.

The situation is "only temporary" though, Canalys analyst Mo Jia argued. "The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X. Price cuts on earlier models after announcing the iPhone 8 have also helped. However, Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4."

The iPhone X is believed to be generating excitement in China, but Jia suggested that its high cost and low supply will be "inhibiting." The device "will enjoy a healthy grey market status, but its popularity is unlikely to help Apple in the short term," he added.

The jump in shipments also continues to leave Apple in fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market. The top three vendors — local giants Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo — shipped 22, 21, and 20 million units in the September quarter, respectively.

Apple is due to publish official iPhone numbers on Thursday as part of its quarterly results. Typically though it only publishes overall shipments, rather than breaking them down region-by-region.

12 Comments

flaneur 4525 comments · 14 Years

About 7 years ago

But they do talk separately about sales in China, or at least they used to when they were rising, didn't they?

Dave Cummings 41 comments · 8 Years

of course, CNet posts an article saying that the iPhone 8 sales are horrible in China....but CNet always seems to be ripping on Apple

suddenly newton 13819 comments · 14 Years

Dave Cummings said:

of course, CNet posts an article saying that the iPhone 8 sales are horrible in China....but CNet always seems to be ripping on Apple

Ironic that some accuse CNet of having a pro-Apple bias. Basically, anyone who says positive things while reviewing an Apple product must be an "Apple fanboy." There's no other explanation. It's not like Apple deserves praise, they'll say.

anantksundaram 20390 comments · 18 Years

flaneur said:

But they do talk separately about sales in China, or at least they used to when they were rising, didn't they?

I think it's got to the point where Apple is the only company providing a lot of this type of granular info to analysts. I think they should stop doing that. In fact, I would go a step further and say that Apple should stop providing earning/revenue guidance. Perfectly respectable companies have ceased that practice.

robjn 283 comments · 8 Years

They argue
“Apple is unlikely to sustain this growth in Q4”

This defies all logic. There is every reason to expect sales to accelerate with the launch of iPhone X.

Also it’s a misnomer to portray recent ‘declining’ sales figures in China as bad. The fact is that Apple has maintained it’s market share despite the much cheaper government sponsored competitors. The market is ripe for an iPhone 6 style explosion of sales.