Robust iPhone sales in greater China and Japan helped Apple boost smartphone revenue 14 per cent and generate a 25 per cent jump in profit in its fiscal Q2 ending 31 March.

Overall revenue in greater China, which includes Taiwan and Hong Kong, reached $13.02 billion in the January to March quarter, up 21 per cent year-on-year and its strongest growth in ten quarters. Japan recorded a 22 per cent increase in sales to $5.47 billion, while revenue across the rest of Asia rose 4 per cent to $3.96 billion.

International sales accounted for 65 per cent of Apple’s total revenue in the quarter.

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call the iPhone X had done extremely well in China, where it was the most popular smartphone during the quarter. The company also generated strong growth in other products categories, such as its wearables and services businesses, and increased share for its Mac products in the market.

India opportunity
He said India set a new fiscal first-half record for revenue, noting there are obviously huge opportunities in the world’s second largest smartphone market, where Apple has an extremely low market share.

“We’re putting a lot of energy there and working with the carriers in that market and they’re investing enormously on LTE networks, and the infrastructure has come quite a ways,” he said.

Responding to a question about the potential for a US/China trade war, he said: “[M]y own view is that China and the US have this unavoidable mutuality where China only wins if the US wins and the US only wins if China wins, and the world only wins if China and the US win. And so I think there’s lots of things that bind the countries together and I’m actually very optimistic.”

For a full breakdown of Apple’s overall performance and earnings during the quarter, click here.