The iPhone just had one of its best months ever in China

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Green iPhone 13 and Alpine Green iPhone 13 Pro cameras
Green iPhone 13 and Alpine Green iPhone 13 Pro cameras (Image credit: Christine Romero-Chan / iMore)

What you need to know

  • The iPhone increased its shipment share in China from 9% in April to 20% in May.
  • Internation shipments for the iPhone 13 lineup have passed the 40 million mark.

The iPhone is making a comeback in China as the country begins to ease its COVID-19 restrictions.

According to a new note to investors seen by AppleInsider, JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee noticed that shipments of the iPhone are up over historical averages in the month of May. Chatterjee reported that smartphone shipments overall increased 147% month-over-month in May, a huge improvement over the usual seasonal increase of 22% seen in previous years.

The analyst went on to say that the iPhone increased its market share from 9% in April to 20% in May. International shipments for the new iPhone 13 series have already crossed the 40 million mark, 11% higher than previous models at this stage in the product's lifecycle.

Overall shipments for the entire smartphone industry in China tracked higher than seasonal averages as well. Total mobile phone shipments grew 15% month-over-month from April to May, outpacing the typical seasonal downtick of 5%. However, Chatterjee offers a few words of caution about the data."We believe that industry shipment outperformance this month could be due to lumpiness in CAICT data and reopening from lockdowns in China, and cannot be viewed as a sustainable uptick in the smartphone industry," the analyst writes.

It's crazy to think, but we are already about three months away from Apple revealing the iPhone 14 lineup. The company is likely to hold an event in September where it is expected to announce the new iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods. If you can't wait that long, then Prime Day iPhone deals are just around the corner and a fantastic shout for picking up a bargain on both the iPhone and other Prime Day Apple deals.

Iphone 13 Pro Color Family 2022 Render Cropped
iPhone 13 Pro


Bottom line: For those who need more power, performance, storage, and an advanced camera system, it's hard to beat the iPhone 13 Pro. Even six months later, it's still the best iPhone for power users.

Joe Wituschek
Joe Wituschek
Contributor

Joe Wituschek is a Contributor at iMore. With over ten years in the technology industry, one of them being at Apple, Joe now covers the company for the website. In addition to covering breaking news, Joe also writes editorials and reviews for a range of products. He fell in love with Apple products when he got an iPod nano for Christmas almost twenty years ago. Despite being considered a "heavy" user, he has always preferred the consumer-focused products like the MacBook Air, iPad mini, and iPhone 13 mini. He will fight to the death to keep a mini iPhone in the lineup. In his free time, Joe enjoys video games, movies, photography, running, and basically everything outdoors.