China Passes the U.S. as Apple’s Largest Smartphone Market

According to a recent report, Chinese consumers have been warm in their reception of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, ordering a whopping 20 million units in their first weekend of availability. With the new iPhone’s official release, China is likely to surpass the United States as the single largest national iPhone market. Americans preordered 10 million iPhones during the first weekend they were offered.

Two major factors were cited as fueling Chinese demand for iPhones. First, China’s middle class continues to grow, and its strengthening economy means that increasing numbers of people have disposable income. Second, the country is experiencing a growing demand for luxury items, particularly tech products.

The encouraging report comes at a good time for Apple, which is trying to halt its eroding market share in China. From June to August of 2014, iOS-powered products commanded just 14.2 percent of all smartphone sales in China. That represents a significant decline from the 15.9 percent figure from the same three-month period in 2013. The iPhone 6’s larger screens seemed to strike a chord with Chinese smartphone buyers, who tend to prefer bigger-format display sizes. In fact, market research indicates that larger screen sizes are desirable to consumers throughout Asia, as well as in many of the world’s other emerging markets.

If you’re part of an iPhone app development company, you’ll want to pay close attention to the emerging sales numbers in China. A growing iPhone market in this booming economy could create unprecedented opportunities to develop and market software products specifically aimed at Chinese consumers.

Of course, Boston mobile application developers and software professionals across the U.S. won’t want to overlook U.S. sales figures, either. Even though America’s overall sales numbers are lower than China’s, Apple still commands very large share of the stateside market.