iPhones Sales In China Likely Trump USA

When it became clear that Apple was going to be able to enter China to grow their worldwide smartphone sales market, it was expected that this would be a major expansion. What we're hearing today is that Apple's sales of iPhones in China this quarter very likely surpassed those here in the United States. Estimates come from UBS and Creative Strategies, both analyst groups suggest that Apple's next quarterly earnings run-down will be a bit of a shocker.

According to Creative Strategies' Ben Bajarin, US and China iPhone sales will likely account for about 30% of Apple's December quarter sales. "My estimates confirm that Apple sold more iPhones in China than in US by a small margin," said Bajarin, " If I include secondary market a large margin."

Bajarin suggested with Financial Times this week that Apple likely sold around 2-million more iPhones in China than they did in the United States in the December quarter.

Analysts at UBS sand something similar. One year ago, the December quarter had Apple shipping 29% of their iPhone units in the USA, while 22% were shipped in China. This year they suggest 36% of iPhone shipments went to China while 24% went to the USA.

The iPhone 6 was released in China in October of 2014, while 2014 also marked Apple's significant expansion in the country due to their deal with China Mobile.