Apple has got a ‘good news’ after getting setbacks for months in China. As per a report by a market research company, iPhone sales soared in May, reclaiming the top spot in China, while global sales surged by 15% year-on-year across April and May. This essentially marks the tech giant’s strongest performance for this two-month period since the COVID-19 pandemic, news agency Reuters stated that data from Counterpoint Research.The report said that the global growth has primarily been fueled by a return to strong sales in Apple’s two largest markets: China and the United States. “Q2 iPhone performance looks promising at the moment, but as always, swings either way are dictated by two markets – the US and China,” noted Ivan Lam, Senior Analyst at Counterpoint Research.

Discount on iPhones in China likely to have helped Apple bounce back

Despite facing intense competition from domestic rivals in China, Apple’s strategy, which included significant price cuts, appears to be paying off. In May, Chinese e-commerce platforms offered discounts of up to 2,530 yuan (approximately $351) on Apple’s latest iPhone 16 models. This aggressive pricing helped foreign-branded phone shipments in China, predominantly Apple, rise to 3.52 million units in April, up slightly from 3.50 million a year earlier, based on data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.The price cuts came as iPhone shipments in China dropped 9% in the first quarter of 2025, while domestic competitors Xiaomi and Huawei saw gains of 40% and 10% respectively, according to Reuters.For the first quarter of 2025, Apple’s market share dropped to 14.1%, placing it fifth behind Chinese competitors Huawei (19.4%), Vivo (17%), Xiaomi (16.6%), and Oppo (14.6%).Further, Apple’s performance beyond these key regions also boosted. The company saw double-digit sales increases in Japan, India and the Middle Eastern markets, partly aided by factors like tariff avoidance.