The Apple iPhone has left an impact on the international smartphone market.
In its time on the market, the company has sold tens of millions of units in America and overseas. However, a recently developed market has become a key player in the last year; China. Apple began selling iPhones in China two years ago after the release of the iPhone 5S and 5C. While the 5C didn't sell as many numbers as Apple wanted, the Chinese market hooked onto the smartphone and increased the local demand for the device. Apple responded accordingly, and has tried to establish more of a foothold in the country.
However, recent records show that China might actually make Apple more money than the U.S. smartphone market.
"Apple will probably show on Monday that earnings jumped by more than 20 percent when it reports results for the second fiscal quarter, which ended in March. While Apple doesn't break out shipments by country, the company may have sold 18 million to 20 million iPhones in greater China during the period, while U.S. deliveries were about 14 million to 15 million, according to Creative Strategies LLC," Bloomberg Business reported.
Why was there a sudden increase in Apple sales? Bloomberg suspects that it has something to do with the Chinese market's love of large phablet screens, the recent Chinese New Year holiday, as well as Apple's ability to maintain sales momentum with the release of the Apple Watch in the last quarter.
Ben Bajarin, an analyst at Creative Strategies LLC, told Bloomberg that "Before, there was some strength in Asia and that was people buying for themselves, then you have the phenomenon you have in Chinese New Year, which is when people gift," Bajarin said. "Our big question is what happens in China for the next few quarters? Are they on par with the U.S. At some point in time, it feels like it is inevitable that every quarter iPhone in China will be bigger than the U.S."
Analysts plan on keeping their eye on the Chinese market to see if it's able to maintain this purchasing momentum in the following quarters.
Apple is reportedly planning on releasing 1st quarter data in the next week or so.
