Apple boost as it ships 2.5m iPhones in China following Covid-19 lockdown - 994022

Apple is recovering some of its iPhone sales losses in China as coronavirus lockdown measures there are being eased.

The tech giant shipped roughly 2.5m iPhones in China this month, according to recently published Chinese government figures.

This was a serious improvement on February, which saw Apple shipping roughly 500,000 phones to China.

In total, 21m mobile phone units were shipped in China in the month of March, a three-fold increase from February. However, sales were still down 20% when compared to March 2019.

The data was gathered by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, a government think tank.

The then-CFO of Xiaomi, a Chinese electronics company, said that the Chinese market had recovered to roughly 80% of its normal levels, in an earnings call.

Smartphone companies are turning to China in the hopes of selling their products, as Europe and America are now facing widespread lockdown measures.

Chinese retailers have been slowly resuming operations since early March. Physical retail outlets are reopening and online shopping and delivery are getting back to normal.

• Reuters and Irish Examiner