China has surpassed Europe in this year's first quarter as Apple’s second largest market, which analysts believe could make the country become the tech giant’s top market in the future, the Global Times reported.
According to a statement released by Apple on April 27, Monday, the company's revenue in China, due to the strong iPhone sales, rose 71 percent year-on-year to $16.8 billion, which exceeded its $12.2 billion revenue in Europe and closing in on the revenue amount of $21.3 billion in the Americas.
Reuters reported that Apple's overall revenue increased by 27 percent from the same period last year to $58.01 billion, more than the $56-billion estimate of Wall Street.
The report said that Apple earned $13.6 billion in quarterly net profit, 33 percent higher from a year earlier.
Apple said that they sold more iPhones in China than in its home market for the first time, but did not specify the exact number. It said in its statement that they sold 61.2 million units worldwide in the second quarter, a 40-percent rise year-on-year.
Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said that China's middle class fuelled the demand for iPhones as well as the abrupt sales during the Chinese lunar year celebration.
Wang Jun, an analyst with Beijing-based market research firm Analysys International, told the Global Times that the growth in the demand for high-end smartphone increased as the living standards of people improve. The growth was also driven by the company's expansion.
Apple's CFO Luca Maestri told the paper that there are six new Apple stores in China in the past quarter alone, making the present number of stores to 21 in 11 cities around the country.
Maestri said that the company will double its presence in China to 40 stores by the middle of 2016.
Fu Liang, a Beijing-based IT expert, told the Global Times that China is the world's largest smartphone market, which is considered by phone manufacturers as a very valuable market where they can compete.
Fu said that Apple's compact iOS system is preferred by more Chinese consumers and it may not take long for China to surpass the Americas and become Apple's biggest market in the future.