Counterpoint Research: iPhone sales in China grew 8% YoY in Q2 2025, boosted by discounts, the first time Apple has recorded growth in China since Q2 2023
Apple iPhone sales in China rose in the second quarter of the year for the first time in two years, Counterpoint Research said …
Context & Ripple Effects
China’s 618 promotions had already helped stabilize iPhone sales in Q2 2024, alongside broader smartphone-market growth, making this quarter a clearer test of whether discounting could restore Apple’s momentum rather than merely halt a slide. 618-driven discounts that stabilized iPhone sales provide the immediate backdrop.
The reported rebound matters because it ends a two-year run without quarterly growth in China, but the stated discount catalyst also makes the improvement a signal about pricing and promotion as much as underlying demand.
First-order effects
- Apple records year-over-year iPhone sales growth in China for the first time since Q2 2023, improving its near-term position in a key market.
- Discounts become the demonstrated lever behind the quarter’s result, putting promotion execution at the center of Apple’s China sales performance.
Second-order effects
- Rival handset makers may need to respond with sharper promotions around major shopping periods if Apple’s discounting draws buyers into its upgrade cycle.
- The result reinforces retailers’ and channel partners’ incentive to prioritize promotional inventory and campaign support for iPhone during demand events.
Third-order effects
- If repeatable, the pattern would point to a China smartphone market where premium-brand share is increasingly contested through retail incentives rather than product launches alone.
- Apple’s later reported China sales growth during a declining overall market suggests that brand-specific gains can diverge sharply from market demand, though it does not establish that discounts alone drive that outcome.
The trend: China’s smartphone market is becoming more promotion-sensitive, allowing major brands to gain share even when broader handset demand is uneven.