Apple’s iPhone 7 was the second best selling phone in urban China in the three months to end-October, a welcome development for the smartphone giant, which has faced a series of woes in the mainland this year.

The company’s new iPhone accounted for 3.8 per cent of smartphone sales in the August-October period, despite not being available for the full three-month period, according to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

iPhone shipments in China plunged 31 per cent to 7.5 million units in Q3, with Apple’s market share falling to 6.2 per cent from 10.3 per cent in Q315, according to Strategy Analytics. Last week Apple reportedly reduced orders from component suppliers for its new iPhone 7 models due to weaker than expected demand in many markets, including China.

Apple is also facing a public relations backlash after a report from a consumer protection agency detailing battery fires in eight iPhone 6 handsets went viral on social media. The report follows shortly after Apple received numerous complaints about iPhone 6 models shutting down unexpectedly.

Kantar Worldpanel’s latest smartphone OS sales data showed that iOS achieved year-on-year growth across most regions except urban China and Germany. For the three months to end-October, Japan was the top market for iOS with a 51.7 per cent share of smartphone sales.

The lack of the headphone jack has proved to be a non-issue for most consumers, said Lauren Guenveur, consumer insight director for Kantar Worldpanel.