Apple posts revenue fall in China, offers iPhone discounts

Apple China posted a revenue fall in its third fiscal quarter ended in June due to an industry-wide sales decrease and pandemic challenges, the company said on Friday.

Its revenue was US$14.6 billion for the quarter, 1 percent down from a year ago. The result beat analysts' expectations of a 7 percent decline.

The lukewarm market demand and pandemic lockdowns in China are major challenges for Apple.

In the second quarter, China's smartphone sales fell 14.7 percent year on year. Apple ranked No. 5 in sales, following Honor, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi, researcher International Data Corp said on Friday.

Apple said previously that COVID-related supply disruptions around Shanghai and silicon shortages would hurt the company's inventory and hinder sales by between US$4 billion and US$8 billion.

The company has started a summer sales campaign in China until Monday for products including iPhone and the Mac computer, with discounts up to 600 yuan (US$92). It's a rare China-only sales promotion for the iPhone.