BEIJING, May 28 (Reuters) - Apple's ( AAPL ) smartphone

shipments in China were 52% higher in April than a year ago,

extending a rebound seen in the previous month, according to

data from a research firm affiliated the Chinese government.

Shipments of foreign-branded phones in China increased by

52% in April to 3.495 million units from 2.301 million a year

earlier, data from the China Academy of Information and

Communications Technology (CAICT) showed on Tuesday.

Although the data did not explicitly mention Apple ( AAPL ), the

company is the dominant foreign phone maker in China's

smartphone-dominated market. This suggests that the increase in

foreign-branded shipments can be attributed to Apple's ( AAPL )

performance.

The big increase follows a weak performance earlier this

year in the world's biggest smartphone market, as the U.S. tech

giant faces intensifying competition in the high-end market from

local rivals such as Huawei.

Apple's ( AAPL ) shipments in China increased by 12% in March,

marking a significant improvement from the first two months of

2024, when the company experienced a 37% slump in sales.

Sales may see a further boost in May, as Apple ( AAPL ) launched an

aggressive discounting campaign this month on its official Tmall

site in China, offering discounts of up to 2,300 yuan ($318) on

select iPhone models.

The price reduction, double the size of a discount it

offered in February, comes after Huawei introduced last month

its new series of high-end smartphones, the Pura 70, following

the launch of the Mate 60 last August.

Huawei overtook Apple ( AAPL ) in the first quarter as the No.2

smartphone vendor in China and is ramping up its marketing

campaign by opening more flagship stores and adding more retail

distributors. Huawei spinoff Honor holds the top spot.

Overall smartphone sales in China increased by 25.5% to 22.7

million units in April, data from the CAICT showed.