Not long ago, plenty of industry watchers were ready to write Apple off in China. Local brands were surging, domestic flagships were getting more competitive every year, and the narrative was that Apple’s best days in the region were behind it. But the latest sales chatter suggests the exact opposite happened in 2025—and in dramatic fashion.
A new claim shared by well-known tipster Ice Universe says Apple’s iPhone 17 series reached 15.57 million units sold in China as of December 31, 2025. If accurate, that’s an eye-popping result in one of the world’s toughest smartphone battlegrounds, and it points to a huge win for Apple right on Chinese brands’ home turf.
The same information suggests the iPhone 17 lineup didn’t just lead the premium segment—it reportedly outpaced every Chinese flagship series combined. Even more striking, the next closest flagship line mentioned, Xiaomi’s 17 series, was said to be far behind, with Apple’s iPhone 17 sales landing at roughly 5.5 times higher.
These numbers also line up neatly with earlier market expectations. Research firm Counterpoint had projected that Apple would likely wrap up 2025 with around 10% year-over-year growth in iPhone shipments. That pace of growth would push Apple’s global smartphone market share to about 19.4%, positioning it at the top among smartphone manufacturers worldwide.
Another Counterpoint snapshot adds further context: iPhones reportedly accounted for about a quarter of all smartphones sold in China during October, a notable milestone Apple had only reached once previously, back in 2022. If the iPhone 17 series truly delivered sales at the scale now being discussed, it would help explain how Apple managed to hit that kind of monthly dominance again.
To put the broader situation into perspective, Apple sold 231.8 million iPhones in 2024. If shipments rose by roughly 10% in 2025, that would imply around 254.98 million iPhones shipped by year’s end—an enormous number that reinforces the idea that 2025 was a standout year for iPhone demand.
Apple’s own leadership had already been signaling confidence. During the company’s previous earnings call, CEO Tim Cook forecast that the December-ending quarter would set records, especially for iPhone performance, saying the company expected its best December quarter ever and its best iPhone quarter ever.
Whether every specific figure holds up under further confirmation, the direction of the story is clear: the iPhone 17 series appears to have been a major sales force in China, and Apple’s momentum there in 2025 looks far stronger than the “Apple is fading” narrative many expected.
