New figures from China show that the overall smartphone market has declined, yet sales for foreign models like the iPhone have soared.

Ahead of the next Apple earnings call on July 30, 2026, there is a report that iPhone sales have again gone up in the crucial Chinese market. According to Reuters, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) has released certain figures for June smartphone sales.

There is very little detail so far and none of it is broken down by manufacturer. But shipments of non-Chinese smartphones including the iPhone rose 66% from May to June.

CAICT says that this means 3.28 million foreign branded smartphones were shipped in China during June 2026. For the same month, the new report says that sales of Chinese-made smartphones were 19.15 million.

However, the overall market was down 15.3% from June 2025.

So while it's not possible to compare one monthly rise against one yearly decline, it appears that iPhones and other foreign smartphones are doing increasingly well. And at the same time, local ones are declining to at least some extent.

China is crucial

If it were only that China is a huge market, it would be important. But it's also one that has for years seen a steady decline in iPhone sales, so Apple turning that around is significant.

Plus it suggests an easing of relations between China and the US. Issues such as Trump's illegal tariffs helped fuel Chinese users' choice to move away from iPhones and buy local smartphones instead, for instance.

Overall, the way that the iPhone and other foreign models have been regaining popularity fits a pattern seen from Apple's record-breaking March 2026 quarter. Sales of the iPhone in China for that quarter were worth $20.5 billion, which was a rise of more than $4 billion year over year.

Tim Cook claimed that this particular result was specifically because of how well the iPhone 17 had done in China. "[The] product has really resonated with the customer," he said.

It's likely that this is going to continue, too, if not actually increase, because of Apple Intelligence. China's hugely complex AI legislation has meant that Apple Intelligence has yet to launch in the country, but it is now expected to be announced soon.

Separately, figures for overall Apple sales in China reportedly rose 38% year over year, which is a marked turnaround after years of continuous decline. Figures such as this are part of what pushed Apple to become the world's most valuable company again, with a $5 trillion market cap.