In the Middle Kingdom, Apple has not been able to make any progress recently and the sales figures for the iPhone 15 have literally collapsed. Now the manufacturer is getting back on track and is able to increase its sales figures again. And the new iPhone 16 has not even been introduced yet. How could Apple do this?

The Chinese market is currently proving to be very difficult for Apple. The devices are no longer a sure-fire success there and the bill was served at the beginning of the year. Sales of iPhones, especially the iPhone 15, fell sharply – a record-breaking 24 percent. But now the turnaround is coming, as the latest figures from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) prove (source: Bloomberg).

iPhone sales are rising again: Apple is turning things around in China

Consequently In April, iPhone sales increased by a phenomenal 52 percent year-on-yearWhile Apple delivered 2.3 million smartphones in April 2023, this year it delivered a whopping 3.5 million. This means that Apple is also outgrowing the smartphone market, which as a whole was able to grow by “only” 25.5 percent to 22.7 million devices in China.

The Chinese are increasingly buying the iPhone 15 again:

But how did Apple achieve this? A new iPhone model like the iPhone 16, which is only expected in the fall, is not responsible for this success. Instead, Apple had to resort to what is probably the oldest trick in the industry and simply lower its prices. And Apple has made major cuts, recently offering discounts of up to the equivalent of 318 US dollars per iPhone. These price reductions are, by the way, twice as high as the discounts already granted in February.

Apple had to aggressive like never before take action against the competition from Huawei and Co. and shake up the holy grail of high margins – a first for the profit-spoiled manufacturer from California.

Apple will launch the iPhone 16 in the fall

However, Bloomberg expects Apple’s market share in China to stabilize soon. Interest in upgrading to a new iPhone is increasing again. Good chances for the iPhone 16 in fall 2024.

Specifically, Apple could very well benefit from the so-called “Premiumization” of the Chinese market According to the latest surveys, this is due to the willingness of more than half of Chinese consumers to spend more than 550 US dollars on their next mobile phone. This is significantly more than the previous 33 percent who are already willing to pay that much for their smartphone.