Apple China Smartphone Sales Grow 23 Percent in 2026

Apple Inc. recorded a 23% surge in smartphone sales in China during the first nine weeks of 2026, outperforming a broader market that has been weighed down by rising component costs. While the overall Chinese market contracted by 4% year-on-year, the iPhone maker successfully utilized aggressive e-commerce discounts and state subsidies to bolster its performance.

The United States technology giant is better positioned to manage the impact of soaring memory chip prices than its competitors due to its robust supply chain management. According to research firm Counterpoint, the company is expected to maintain its pricing strategy even as Android-based rivals are forced to raise their retail prices.

Apple is unlikely to follow suit, instead absorbing part of the margin pressure and using the situation to potentially expand its market share.

In contrast, brands such as OPPO and vivo have already announced price increases for several models to offset the rising costs of memory. Meanwhile, Huawei may benefit from its reliance on domestic suppliers, which often provide more cost-effective solutions than international memory chipmakers, allowing the company to maintain a buffer in the low-to-mid-end market segments.

The Chinese smartphone market is expected to remain under pressure through May, with a potential recovery anticipated during the 618 shopping festival in June. However, analysts warn that the industry-wide challenge of elevated memory costs is likely to persist throughout the year.

The broader memory cost crunch is forecast to persist throughout 2026, forcing handset makers into difficult trade-offs between managing costs, protecting margins and hitting shipment targets.