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

shipments in China rose nearly 40% in May from a year earlier,

extending a rebound seen in April, data from a research firm

affiliated with the Chinese government showed on Friday.

Shipments of foreign-branded phones in China increased by

1.425 million in May to 5.028 million units from 3.603 million a

year earlier，calculations based on the data from the China

Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)

showed.

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-brand phone

shipments can be attributed to Apple's ( AAPL ) performance.

The jump in Apple's ( AAPL ) sales follows a weak performance by

the U.S. tech giant in the world's biggest smartphone market

earlier this year amid strong competition in the high-end

smartphone category from local rivals such as Huawei.

The sales boost also comes after Apple ( AAPL ) launched an

aggressive discounting campaign

on its official Tmall site in China in May, offering price

cuts of up to 2,300 yuan ($316.71)on select iPhone models.

Apple's ( AAPL ) May sales increase extended its growth streak for

the past two months, including a 52% jump in April. This marks a

significant improvement from the first two months of 2023, when

the company experienced a 37% slump in sales.

Earlier last month, Apple ( AAPL ) CEO Tim Cook forecast iPhone sales

growth in some markets, including China, after the company

reported an 8.1% drop in second-quarter revenue from the Greater

China region.

The price reduction in May, double the size of a discount it

offered in February, comes after Huawei introduced in April 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 retail strategy

by opening more flagship stores and adding more retail

distributors. Huawei spinoff Honor holds the top spot.

Overall phone sales in China increased by 16.5% to 30.33

million units in May, data from the CAICT showed.

($1 = 7.2622 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Anil D'Silva)