Apple's iPhone shipments in China surge after economy opens up

• The shipments of Apple’s iPhone devices increased by 19 percent in March from a year earlier to 2.5 million units.

Apple’s shipments of its flag bearer iPhone devices saw a rebound in China in the month of March as the country opened itself after lifting lockdowns that have caused economic upheavals amid the rise of coronavirus pandemic.

As per Bloomberg, the shipments of Apple’s iPhone devices increased by 19 percent in March from a year earlier to 2.5 million units.  However, the overall smartphone market, including Android devices, saw a decline of about 22pc to 21 million shipments, which was more than a three-fold increase from February.

China is trying to restart its economic engines after weeks of near paralysis to contain the coronavirus pandemic that had severely restricted business activity, disrupting supply chains and daily life of people. But analysts warn it could take months before the economy returns to normal as the virus has spread rapidly around the world, leading to countrywide shutdowns.

Meanwhile, the shipments of iPhone plunge more than 60pc year-on-year in China in February as factories remained shut past the Lunar New Year holiday break.

Apple’s assembly plants in China also known as Foxconn, has slowly resumed its operations, with more than 200,00 workers returning to work in March at the mega-complex in Zhengzhou, known as “iPhone City.”

The factory has shipped almost 300,000 iPhone units per day at that point, a similar output to its pre-coronavirus capacity.