Just a few days after initial reports about the lack of people standing in line outside Apple Stores in China came out, we now have surprising news coming in about the kind of sales the newly launched iPhone 5 witnessed in that country.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that despite the fact that Apple Stores wore a deserted look on the day of the initial launch, Apple still managed to sell over 2 million iPhones over the weekend. This if indeed is true has to be a commendable achievement considering the fact that the iPhone 4S sold 2.1 million units – and that was during favourable weather conditions.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed the sales figures and said that the weekend sales figures for the iPhone 5 have set a new record in China. He added that “China is a very important market for us.” It certainly is considering the fact that Apple’s China sales hit $5.7 billion in the fiscal fourth quarter through September. This accounts for roughly 16% of the company’s global total. There is no doubt hence about the fact that China indeed is a very important market for Apple.
The excellent showing by the iPhone 5 in China couldn’t have come at a better time for Apple. Of late, there were concerns regarding Apple’s overall competitiveness owing to the fact that its competitors were catching up fast. Arch-rival Samsung continues to keep Apple on its toes and has went on to become the world’s biggest smartphones manufacturer and the Samsung juggernaut seems no signs of relenting.
It would be interesting to see how well the iPhone 5 manages to do under these challenging circumstances. So far though, all seems to be well for Apple.