Apple's iPhone shipments in the Chinese market were approximately 3.18 million units in December, an increase of 18.7% year-on-year, calculations based on the latest data showed.
In December 2019, China's domestic mobile phone shipments totaled 30.444 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 14.7%.
Among them, 1.461 million were 2G mobile phones, 23.57 million were 4G phones, and 5.414 million were 5G phones, according to data released by the China Academy of Information and Communications earlier on Thursday.
For the full year of 2019, China's domestic mobile phone market shipped 389 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.2%. Among them, 16.13 million were 2G phones, 58,000 were 3G phones, 359 million were 4G phones, and 13.769 million were 5G phones.
In contrast, according to data released by Credit Suisse, in November last year, iPhone shipments in the Chinese market fell by more than 35%. In September and October, Apple sold about 10 million iPhones in the Chinese market, a year-on-year decline of 7.4%.
Nevertheless, Apple still faces strong challenges from local mobile phone manufacturers such as Huawei in the Chinese market.
Over time, Apple lags behind competitors in supporting 5G, and it is unknown whether iPhone shipments can continue to grow.
