It was not too long ago when even seasoned analysts were sounding the death knell for Apple in China. Yet, in one fell swoop, Apple's iPhone 17 lineup has managed to trounce all Chinese flagship smartphones, and that too on their home turf.
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup reportedly outsells the combined volume of all other Chinese flagship smartphones by a mile
According to the tidbit shared by the famous tipster Ice Universe, Apple has reportedly sold 15.57 million units of the iPhone 17 variants in China by December 31, which is around 5.5x the sales volume recorded by the next best-selling flagship smartphone series, the Xiaomi 17.
In fact, the China-based sales volume of Apple's iPhone 17 variants exceeds the combined sales volume recorded by the rest of the Chinese flagship smartphones!
This comes as Counterpoint Research noted back in November that Apple was likely to end 2025 with a 10 percent year-over-year growth in iPhone shipments, which would take its share of the global smartphone market to 19.4 percent - the highest among global smartphone OEMs.
What's more, another recent Counterpoint Research report showed that Apple's iPhones constituted a quarter of all smartphones sold in China during October – a milestone that Apple managed to hit only once before, back in 2022.
In light of today's tidbit, it seems those rosy projections for the uptake of the Apple iPhone 17 lineup have certainly panned out.
As far as hard numbers are concerned, do note that Apple sold 231.8 million iPhones in 2024. Therefore, a 10 percent increase from this baseline means that Apple is likely to have shipped a whopping 254.98 million iPhones by the end of 2025.
Finally, do note that Apple's Tim Cook had predicted during the Cupertino giant's last earnings call that the company would break all sales record during its December-ending quarter:
"We expect the December quarter revenue to be the best ever for the company and the best ever for iPhone."
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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