Apple has sold more iPhones in China than in the US

Apple sold more iPhones in China than in the US during 2014, the company is expected to announce this week

A woman holds an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China
A woman holds an iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in China Credit: Photo: AP

More iPhones were sold in China than in the US during 2014, Apple is expected to announce this week.

Strong sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets coupled with increased availability thanks to China Mobile has caused sales in China to overtake that of the US for the first time.

iPhone sales in China accounted for around 36pc of shipments in the last quarter, compared to the 24pc made via the US, according to analysts at UBS.

Apple struck a multi-year distribution deal with the world's biggest mobile carrier China Mobile in December 2013, when Apple held around 5pc cent of China's $80bn smartphone market.

Apple now holds around 18.1 per cent of the market in urban China, and around 63 per cent of iPhone sales were made through China Mobile in the three months to November 2014, according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

Chief executive Tim Cook visited Foxconn supplier factories during a trip to China last October, where he announced that the company planned to open 25 new retail stores across the country in the next two years.

"We're investing like crazy in the market," Cook said. "When I look at China, I see an enormous market where there are more people graduating into the middle class than any nation on Earth in history."

Apple has reportedly accepted Chinese demands for a full security inspection of its products to ensure that it can continue selling its hardware in the country last week, over Chinese government concerns Apple could covertly spy on its citizens through its US-designed hardware and software.

The country banned its government officials from buying Apple devices over spying fears last August. Apple denied claims made by the Chinese state broadcaster that the iPhone represented a threat to national security by revealing its owners' locations, releasing a statement stating they did not track users' locations, "have never done so and has no plans to ever do so."

Apple opened a new store in Hangzhou, China on Saturday, the first of five shops planned to open ahead of Chinese New Year on February 19.