Apple just delivered a solid fiscal quarter, and this time China was not a pain point, but the growth engine. For the quarter ended December 27, 2025, the company reported revenue of US$143.76 billion, up 16% year on year, and net profit of US$42.10 billion, up 15.9%. We could be looking at the start of an Apple sales rebound in China.
The iPhone did most of that heavy lifting with a revenue jump of 23% powered by the release of the iPhone 17. Services revenue also jumped 14%, boosting the profit line. These figures are from Apple’s global books, but Greater China has the headline factor.
Apple sales’ China rebound
Revenue there rose 38% to US$25.53 billion, the fastest growth of any region. CEO Tim Cook said Apple set records in China for both upgraders – users that replace an old iPhone with the latest model – and switchers – users switching from a rival handset brand. He also said that more localised features and government-backed trade-in subsidies helped these stats.
That rebound is big news for Apple. Their China business has been under visible pressure in recent years. Until fairly recently, the company was facing a slowdown in Greater China sales. This was in part to a Chinese consumer preference in homegrown, rival brands – think Xiaomi, Huawei, Oppo – and issues getting Apple AI up to scratch. In the first fiscal quarter of 2024 things looked particularly bleak, with iPhone sales down 24% year on year, and Huawei units sales data showing a 64% rise.
Apple has recently announced plans to use Google’s Gemini to support Siri upgrades, which solves a big problem for the brand’s lagging AI capabilities. For now the results point to a rebound and not a reset. Apple’s China business still faces pressure from aggressive domestic rivals. But this quarterly Apple sales rebound in China shows the company can regain momentum when product cycles, subsidies and localisation align.
