Apple's New IPhone Sales in China Jump 20% in First 3 Weeks

FILE - The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
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Apple's New IPhone Sales in China Jump 20% in First 3 Weeks

FILE - The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
FILE - The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Apple Inc's new iPhones got off to a strong start in China, with their sales rising 20% in their first three weeks since their launch compared with its 2023 model, according to data from research firm Counterpoint.
Both Apple and Huawei's latest smartphones went on sale in China on Sept. 20, underscoring intensifying competition in the world's biggest smartphone market where the US firm has been losing market share in recent quarters to domestic rivals, Reuters said.
"We're seeing strong iPhone 16 series unit sales in China," Counterpoint said, adding the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models were doing particularly well, with their combined sales rising 44% compared with their equivalent 2023 versions.
Overall iPhone unit sales in China, however, dropped 2% year on year during the three-week period because of decreased sales of older models and increased competition with Huawei's Mate and Pura series, it said.



Nokia Joins Ericsson in Seeing Signs of Recovery after Mixed Results

FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
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Nokia Joins Ericsson in Seeing Signs of Recovery after Mixed Results

FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
FILE PHOTO: A Nokia logo is seen at company's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, May 5, 2017. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

Finnish telecom equipment supplier Nokia on Thursday reported a 9% rise in third-quarter operating profit on cost cuts, and echoed rival Ericsson in seeing demand recovery in some areas.
However, quarterly net sales fell 8% to 4.33 billion euros ($4.70 billion), missing estimates of 4.76 billion euros due mainly to lower sales to India. That sent its shares down 3%, Reuters said.
Both Nokia and Ericsson said North America has started to show signs of growth after years of weakness, but Nokia's market share in the region had dropped after losing contracts with Verizon and AT&T over the years.
"We have seen a really bad cycle... Now that decline is over and it is starting to gradually recover, which is good, but it (telecom) will never be a huge growth market," CEO Pekka Lundmark said in an interview.
He cautioned that growth was happening more slowly than earlier expected.
"North America has started to show pretty good signs, and we had strong growth in Q3 in network infrastructure," Lundmark said.
Nokia's total addressable market in telecom stands at around $84 billion.
To look for growth, Nokia has been targeting the data center and defense sectors, splurging $2.3 billion to buy US optical networking gear maker Infinera in June to target data center operators.
"That's where the growth will come from, and that growth is starting already," Lundmark said.
Demand from Indian clients, which has dropped significantly this year, is also recovering after Nokia last month got a big contract from Vodafone Idea and is expected to get another from Bharti Airtel .
"India will return back to growth next year," Lundmark said.
Comparable earnings before interest and tax rose to 454 million euros, beating the 424 million euros expected by analysts in an LSEG poll.

Nokia maintained its full-year profit outlook of 2.3 billion to 2.9 billion euros, but said it was currently tracking within the bottom half of that range.