iPhone 17 Powers China Singles' Day Growth, Defying Broader Market Slump [Report]

Apple's latest handset lineup successfully powered China's smartphone market to growth during the massive Singles' Day shopping festival, defying a broader trend of consumer caution. New data from Counterpoint Research indicates that sales grew 3 percent year-over-year during the period, a figure driven almost entirely by demand for the iPhone 17 series.

Take Apple out of the equation, and the market actually dropped by 5 percent. The base model iPhone 17 did the heavy lifting here, with sales more than doubling compared to its predecessor. Senior analyst Ivan Lam points to the value of the new entry-level device as a key driver, since it picked up better storage and camera hardware without a price hike.

The high-end units also saw solid movement. Sales for the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max grew by double digits, helped by discounts of around CNY 300. This lines up with earlier data showing a 37 percent surge in Apple's October numbers. It also tracks with comments from CEO Tim Cook, who recently said he "couldn't be more pleased" with how things are going in the region.


Competitors struggled to match Apple's momentum during the sales window. Huawei saw the biggest decline among major brands as its flagship Mate 80 launch missed the promotional period. Xiaomi also saw an 11 percent drop, largely because the earlier launch timing of its Xiaomi 17 series shifted its sales peak to the previous month.

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