After a rocky start to the year, the iPhone business is showing signs recovery, especially in China, where Apple had recently been overtaken by local brands riding on an aggressive government-backed subsidy plan. Here’s the latest data.
The new report from Counterpoint Research (via Macrumors) says iPhone sales grew 15% year-over-year across April and May, marking Apple’s strongest performance for this time of year since the pandemic.
It’s a sharp rebound driven by renewed demand in both the U.S. and China, two markets that, for better or worse, continue to make or break Apple’s quarterly iPhone numbers.
U.S., China, India and Japan led the pack
In China, Apple managed to reclaim the number one spot in May, after months of losing ground to Huawei and other local brands that capitalized on an aggressive mix of promotional discounts and government-backed subsidies.
Meanwhile in the US, Counterpoint analyst Ivan Lam suggested the sales bump might partly reflect consumers rushing to buy iPhones ahead of potential new tariffs. The April-May period landed right in the thick of renewed trade war tensions, which could have pushed some buyers to act sooner than planned. Still, Lam said that “Q2 iPhone performance looks promising at the moment.”
Elsewhere, while India continued its steady climb, thanks to Apple’s renewed interest and investment in the country, Japan also showed solid iPhone growth, with the iPhone 16e in particular striking a chord with consumers thanks to its smaller form factor and lower price.
As for AI, Counterpoint says that it is not really moving the needle for now. Analyst Jeff Fieldhack noted that “agentic AI” still isn’t a factor in most smartphone buying decisions. This, in turn, gives Apple a little more breathing room as it works to bring Apple Intelligence and a more capable Siri up to speed throughout 2025, 2026, and (certainly) beyond.
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