Apple Greater China revenue rose 21% to $17.5 billion in the September quarter, as per the latest update from Apple, while IDC had China’s smartphone shipments down 15.4% in the third calendar quarter. It was Apple’s fastest-growing region and supplied about a quarter of the company’s revenue growth.
Greater China covers mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, so it is a wider measure than IDC’s mainland smartphone data. The region was the fastest-growing one in Apple’s fourth-quarter results, ahead of Rest of Asia Pacific at 15.0% and Europe at 11.5%.
Apple Greater China revenue grew 21% in the quarter and 28% for the year
The region has slowed slightly from the first half of the fiscal year but still grew by more than a fifth in both of the last two quarters.
- First half: $46.0 billion, up about 33.3%
- June quarter: $18.8 billion, up 22.4%
- September quarter: $17.5 billion, up 21.0%
- Full year: $82.4 billion, up 28.0%
CEO John Ternus said iPhone grew by strong double digits in Greater China and the United States, both September quarter revenue records, and that Services set a September quarter record in Greater China. Apple also set a September quarter record for iPhone upgraders in mainland China.
The September quarter was 6.8% below the June quarter in dollars. Greater China made up 15.3% of Apple’s revenue in the quarter and 17.2% for the year. It added $3.0 billion over the year-ago quarter, 25.4% of Apple’s total growth, and $18.0 billion over the full year, 28.7% of the company’s growth.
Apple gained share while China’s smartphone market shrank 15.4%
IDC puts China’s smartphone shipments at about 57.9 million units in the third calendar quarter and blames rising memory and component costs. In IDC’s China smartphone data, Apple finished with 17.8% of shipments, up from 15.8% a year earlier, and Huawei led with 21.1%.
IDC also has Apple’s iPhone shipments in China slipping slightly from last year, because Apple has fewer models on sale. The 21% revenue gain includes Mac, iPad and Services as well as iPhone, and it takes in Hong Kong and Taiwan, so the two figures are not the same measure.
The iPhone 18 Pro had only eight days on sale before the quarter ended
iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max went on sale on September 18, and Apple’s quarter ended on September 26. Counterpoint counted a 12% year-over-year rise for the first three days on sale in China, which gave Apple a 33% share and the top spot for the week of September 14 to 20.
Counterpoint’s weekly tracking later had iPhone 18 Pro sales in China up 29% over the first three weeks, against a 4% decline in the United States and a 27% decline in Japan.
