Apple faces worst iPhone slump since Covid-19 as China rivals rise

Apple's iPhone shipments slid a worse-than-projected 10 per cent in the March quarter, reflecting flagging sales in China despite a broader smartphone industry rebound.

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The company shipped 50.1 million iPhones in the first three months, according to market tracker IDC, falling shy of an average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg of 51.7 million units.

The 9.6 per cent year-on-year drop is the steepest for Apple since Covid-19 lockdowns snarled supply chains in 2022, the researchers said.

The iPhone maker has struggled to sustain sales in China since the debut of its latest generation in September.

The resurgence of rivals from Huawei Technologies to Xiaomi and a Beijing ban on foreign devices in the workplace have all weighed on sales. The IDC reckoning provides the first snapshot of the global performance of Apple's most important product ahead of earnings on May 2.

The drop in iPhone shipments is significant given the overall mobile market registered its best growth in years. Smartphone makers shipped 289.4 million handsets in the period, marking a 7.8 per cent rise from the trough a year ago, when many manufacturers were grappling with a surfeit of unsold devices.