In China, iPhone sales increased 16 percent year over year during the country’s 618 Shopping Festival last month, 9to5Mac reported July 1, citing Counterpoint Research.
Apple’s smartphones received a lot of traffic during the shopping event, thanks to significant discounts of over $155, according to the news site. The company first participated in the festival last year.
The 618 festival began in 2004 as a promotional event for eCommerce giant JD.com and was held on June 18, but has since become a nationwide event among many retailers that takes place across the month of June.
Apple has sold over 100 million iPhone 12 devices, a milestone it hit in April 2021, two months faster than with iPhone 11 sales. The demand almost compares to that of the iPhone 6, “which set new records through pent-up demand for iPhones with larger screens,” 9to5Mac noted.
The iPhone 12 Mini may not have contributed much to those sales, as a report from Canalys found it to be significantly less popular than its other models. According to the report, Apple trailed Samsung in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2021, with a 15 percent market share.
The iPhone maker is betting big on physical retail and predicts it to come stronger than before. PYMNTS recently reported that the company plans to open at least two new stores, in addition to the “Creative Studios” program that it is launching in Beijing and Los Angeles. The program will teach kids from underrepresented communities how to make photos, music and movies with its products.
But the firm is not giving up on digital, either: its App Store facilitated $643 billion in total billings and sales in 2020, a 24 percent increase year-over-year.