Apple recorded a strong rebound in iPhone shipments in China in the last month of 2019, despite the overall market suffering a double-digit decline.

Smartphone shipments in the mainland dropped 13.7 per cent year-on-year in December to 28.9 million units, data from the China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT) showed.

Based on the figures, Bloomberg estimated Apple recorded an 18.7 per cent increase in iPhone shipments to 3.18 million units.

The jump follows a tough 2019 for Apple, which saw its market share drop to 5.2 per cent in the third quarter from 7 per cent in Q3 2018, with shipments down 28 per cent to 7.1 million units, Canalys reported in October.

Despite the release of the iPhone 11 in September, a Credit Suisse analyst estimated iPhone shipments fell by double-digit figures in October and November.

Over the course of the year, CAICT said overall smartphone shipments in China dropped 4.7 per cent to 371.7 million units, the third consecutive annual decline.

Canalys figures showed the market peaked at 477 million units in 2016.