Apple ended six consecutive quarters of sales declines in China, posting 12 per cent year-on-year revenue growth in the mainland in its fiscal Q4.

The US-based company’s turnover in China during the period (which ran from 2 July to 30 September) rose to $9.8 billion, but fell 11 per cent to $3.86 billion in Japan. Sales in the rest of Asia increased 5 per cent year-on-year to $2.8 billion.

Apple CEO Tim Cook (pictured) said in the earnings call revenue from emerging markets outside of greater China increased 40 per cent, “with great momentum in India, where revenue doubled year-over-year”.

“I feel like we’re making good progress there and are gaining understanding of the market, but we still have a long way to go…I do feel great about the growth rate,” Cook said, adding he hoped manufacturing the iPhone SE in the country saves some money over time and avoids some of the “compounding of taxes”.

He noted declines in sales experienced in Hong Kong moderated in the recent period: “So it’s still down year-over-year but less so than it was”.

The rebound in the mainland comes after the company’s revenue in greater China fell 10 per cent year-on-year in its fiscal Q3 ending 1 July. Sales in greater China, which covers the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, of $8 billion in the recent fiscal Q3 were down from $8.85 billion in the 2016 period.

Upward trend
Earlier this week Canalys reported Apple bucked a trend of declining smartphone sales in China with iPhone shipments rising 40 per cent year-on-year to about 11 million units in calendar Q3. The quarterly performance is Apple’s best in China since Q3 2015, where its growth slowed considerably since the launch of the iPhone 6S.

Apple reported a 19 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to $10.7 billion in fiscal Q4 and record revenue of $52.6 billion, up 12 per cent year-on-year. International sales accounted for 62 per cent of the quarter’s revenue.

Sales of iPhones inched up 2 per cent to $28.8 billion, with volumes rising 3 per cent to 46.3 million units. iPad sales increased 14 per cent to $4.8 billion, as unit sales grew 11 per cent to 10.3 million.