Apple CEO sends sign on essential China second

In some ways, Apple’s (AAPL) 2025 story has been one among quiet resilience. 

Regardless of sluggish international smartphone demand, the world’s Most worthy enterprise was capable of finding new methods to bend the curve.

Its success had every little thing to do with supply-chain recalibrations, a gradual premium combine, together with the mushy energy of ecosystem lock-in, pushing Apple in direction of development, when most of its friends remained caught within the mud.

Nowhere was that extra evident than in Larger China. 

Following a comparatively tough patch early within the fiscal yr, Apple was capable of claw its approach again to development, posting a 4% year-over-year bump in gross sales from the area in its fiscal Q3 outcomes. 

CEO Tim Prepare dinner hailed it a “very positive” quarter, crediting revitalized iPhone demand for the stellar comeback. For sure, the iPhone stays mission-critical for Apple, because it nonetheless accounts for roughly 50% of its annual gross sales, and China continues to symbolize about 16% of whole gross sales.

Nonetheless, the trail forward hasn’t been easy. Native manufacturers are encroaching, whereas worth wars are intensifying, which considerably impacts Apple’s as soon as easy dominance in Asia.

That’s why Prepare dinner’s newest go to to China on October 14, 2025, was something however ceremonial.

It wasn’t about picture ops or manufacturing facility excursions, however appeared extra about sending a sign designed to quietly recalibrate Apple’s footing in arguably its most essential market.

Tim Prepare dinner’s China go to blends popular culture and coverage wins, from a Labubu cameo to a inexperienced mild on eSIM for the ultra-slim iPhone Air.

Picture supply: Justin Sullivan/Getty Pictures

Tim Prepare dinner sends a dual-pronged sign in China

Tim Prepare dinner isn’t simply seeking to promote iPhones; he’s promoting connection. 

His newest, much-talked-about journey to China felt much less like an government routine and extra like a cultural marketing campaign, choreographed to supercharge Apple’s momentum within the area.

In Shanghai, Prepare dinner met with Pop Mart CEO Wang Ning and artist Kasing Lung, the creator of “Labubu,” a viral figurine amongst Gen Z collectors. 

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Lung even gifted Prepare dinner a customized Labubu doll, which got here with white fur, sneakers, and a tiny iPhone. In a playful gesture, Prepare dinner posted that the character “now has her own new iPhone 17 Pro in Cosmic Orange.”

Moreover, Prepare dinner visited Shanghai’s Pudong Apple Retailer to greet his followers, visited Lilith Video games, and even related with native pop star Wang Feifei on a music video set shot totally on an iPhone 17 Professional. The China go to served as a form of advertising and marketing masterclass wrapped in tradition and Gen Z fluency.

An eSIM inexperienced mild sparks Apple’s subsequent China play

Nonetheless, beneath all of the mushy energy in Prepare dinner’s journey to China got here plenty of substance. 

His go to successfully coincided with Chinese language regulators permitting eSIM performance, enabling Apple to launch the iPhone Air, the corporate’s ultra-slim (5.6 mm) eSIM-only mannequin.

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The Ministry of Trade and Info Know-how rapidly permitted business eSIM trials for China Cell, China Unicom, and China Telecom, and Apple moved quick. Preorders for the  ($1,120) iPhone Air are anticipated to open up on October 17, with shipments on October 22, roughly a month later than the worldwide rollout.

For Apple, that timing is crucial. 

It basically means the complete iPhone 17 lineup, together with Base, Professional, Professional Max, and Air, will hit China in time for the ultimate quarter of the yr. Rivals akin to Huawei and Oppo are additionally racing to observe, however for now, Apple holds the first-mover benefit. 

Apple’s iPhone 17 technique delivers quiet energy in China

Apple is outwardly doing what few thought potential: rising in a shrinking market. 

China’s smartphone sector contracted 0.6% in Q3 2025, however Apple was someway capable of flip the script. The Cupertino large shipped 10.8 million iPhones, a 0.6% year-over-year improve, touchdown it among the many solely three distributors to submit development, pushing its market share to fifteen.8%, simply behind Vivo.  

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Analysts hail the multi-pronged technique, which includes successful over value-conscious consumers with the bottom iPhone 17,  whereas holding others hooked with the daring,
premium Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Professional. 

IDC’s Nabila Popal summed it up completely, saying, “Apple cleverly segmented its iPhone 17 lineup to cater to different user needs, which drove a new wave of purchases.” Moreover, Omdia’s Chiew Le Xuan expects iPhone shipments in China to climb 11% within the second half of 2025, serving to drive 5% full-year development.

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