Ahead of Apple’s fiscal Q1 2015 earnings report today, there were signs that Apple had enjoyed significant growth in China and a record number of smartphone sales in the region during the holidays. Today, we get some more insight into that growth, as Apple reported a 157% increase from the previous quarter: revenue of $16.144 billion in Greater China compared to $6.292 billion in Q3.
That’s up 70% year over year from the $9.496 billion the company pulled in from the region in the holiday quarter last year.
Compare Apple’s 157% growth in China with an increase of around 55% for the Americas during the same period. The Americas remained Apple’s largest market at $30.566 billion for the quarter. China’s $16.144 billion was a very close third behind Europe at $17.2 billion during the quarter.
During the Q&A of the earnings call, Cook noted China will soon be at 20 retail stores with plans to double that number to 40 total by mid-2106. Online revenues in China were more than sum of the previous 5 years, according to Cook.
Leading up to today’s earnings report, analysts reported Apple became the top smartphone vendor in China for the first time last quarter, and sold more iPhones in the country than it did in the US.
We expect Tim Cook and other Apple execs will make a point of noting growth in China during the company’s earnings call with investors later today. Stay tuned to our live blog here.
