Apple Inc. reached new sales records in China in the September quarter, softening the blow of rising costs for components like memory and navigating soft consumer demand better than rivals.
The broader Chinese economy is struggling to spark growth and consumers have shown themselves wary about making larger discretionary purchases. Apple resisted increasing prices for its iPhone longer than domestic rivals like Huawei Technologies Co. and Xiaomi Corp., doing so only in September. Its presence as one of the premium options on the market helped the company avoid the worst of the margin erosion brought on by the surging cost of memory. The outlook from Apple points to reduced profitability as it too has to digest greater component costs, though the company is seen also benefiting from the memory supply crunch as consumers gravitate toward fewer purchases of pricier devices.
The company is projected to capture a 27% share of China’s smartphone market in the December quarter by market researcher Smart Analytics Global, which sees robust demand for the iPhone 18 Pro series.
Global mobile shipments suffered their worst decline on record in the September period, according to IDC, but a better product mix helped Apple.
