Apple took the top smartphone sales spot in China in May as price cuts boosted the company’s sales in one of its biggest markets, according to preliminary figures from Counterpoint Research.

Efforts to avoid possible tariffs on iPhones also helped boost Apple’s worldwide sales to a 15 percent rise year-on-year during the April and May period, in its strongest two-month period since the Covid-19 pandemic pushed electronics to unusual highs, Counterpoint said.

China and the US were the primary driver of sales, but Apple also saw double-digit growth in Japan, India and the Middle East.

Price cuts

Counterpoint senior analyst Ivan Lam said Apple sales movements were being largely dictated by the US and China.

Apple has resorted to price cuts in China in recent months under pressure from domestic rivals including Huawei and Xiaomi.

In May Chinese e-commerce platforms were offering discounts of up to 2,530 yuan ($352, £260) on Apple’s latest iPhone models.

Earlier this month Counterpoint slashed its growth expectations for Apple and Samsung due to uncertainty over US tariff policy as well as weakened demand in North America, Europe and parts of Asia.

The firm said it expected Apple to show 2.5 percent year-on-year growth in 2025, down from a previous forecast of 4 percent, while Samsung would see no growth this year, down from 1.7 percent.

Both companies have been singled out for potential tariffs in the US as the White House seeks to encourage domestic manufacturing.

Huawei growth

The firms both produce their smartphones outside the US.

Apple this year began to import more of its US iPhones from India, rather than China where it manufactures 90 percent of its devices, drawing further White House criticism.

Huawei appeared as a bright spot in Counterpoint’s projections with an expected 11 percent year-on-year growth in shipments this year.

Counterpoint associate director Ethan Qi said Huawei was seeing an easing of sourcing bottlenecks for key components at least through the rest of this year that should help it gain substantial share in the mid- to lower-end segments in China.

Huawei has had to create new sources of high-end components in recent years since being placed under US sanctions in 2019.