Chinese government data shows that Apple shipped around 2.5 million iPhone devices inside the country in March. This figure represents a rebound after February when the firm only shipped 500,000 phones according to data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) – a government think tank.
According to CAICT, all mobile phone shipments in the country totalled 21 million units. As in Apple’s case, this figure increased more than three-fold from February. While companies will be pleased to see sales pick up, demand was still down about 20% when compared to March last year. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this month as more people are allowed out of their homes in China.
In its article, Reuters said that phone manufacturers are hoping that the Chinese market can cushion declines overseas. Many leading economies around the world from the UK to Australia are expecting to be plunged into a recession as coronavirus brings economies to a halt. During these economically difficult times, keeping up with the latest mobile phone will not be the priority for a lot of people who are more interested in getting essential bills paid.
Apple is due to announce its quarterly earnings results on April 30 which should provide us with more data regarding Apple’s performance in China and around the world during the first quarter.
Source: Reuters