BEIJING, July 4 (Reuters) - Sales of foreign-branded

mobile phones in China, including those of Apple Inc ( AAPL ),

fell 9.7% year-on-year in May, according to data released by a

government-affiliated research company on Friday.

Calculations based on the data from the China Academy of

Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) showed that

May shipments of foreign-branded phones in China fell to 4.54

million handsets from the same month last year.

As the largest foreign mobile phone maker in China's

smartphone-dominated market, Apple's ( AAPL ) performance plays a

significant role in the overall data on foreign-branded phone

sales in the country.

Apple ( AAPL ) has faced increased competition from domestic rivals

and has cut prices to stay competitive. Chinese e-commerce

platforms offered discounts of up to 2,530 yuan ($351) on

Apple's ( AAPL ) latest iPhone 16 models in May.

The CAICT data did not give specific figures for Apple ( AAPL ).

Shipments of phones within China were down 21.8%

year-on-year to 23.72 million handsets for the month, the data

showed.